A Salaryman in Nobuna's Court
by Epsilon Zeta
Summary: A new employee of Toei Company accidentally finds his way in the Warring States era. Now he must now take the place of Hideyoshi and serve under the head of the Oda clan who is not what he expected. Talk about a weird first day on the job.
1. The Strange New World

**Disclaimer: I own nothing about the Ambition of Oda Nobuna or Kamen Rider. The only thing I own here is my original character.**

**First Slice: The Strange New World**

Sasaki Motoharu stood in front of a mirror for one last check. His face was clean shaven, teeth all brushed and sparkly, hair all combed. No wrinkles on his black suit or his necktie and glasses neatly on his nose. Apple iPhone fully charged and his briefcase had everything he would need for his first day on the job. 'Alright, let's do this!'

The 21 year old Japanese man grabbed his coat and then left his small apartment with a light skip in his step. After all, he had recently been hired as a new addition to the financial department of Toei Company. The competition had been fierce and some of the interview techniques had been extremely stressful but he had persevered and landed the job. Now he got to work for the company that made the Super Sentai and Kamen Rider series, programs that he had enjoyed in his youth. He did miss watching those shows but that had been sacrificed when he had to devote more time to his studies to get into a good high school and university.

Perhaps as part of the orientation, maybe the new recruits would have to marathon some of the movies or specials with those new characters? That would be interesting.

One stressful morning commute later (and the cool fall weather not helping), Motoharu arrived at the corporate headquarters of Toei Company. Next stop was the conference room where the orientation would take place. As he headed to the elevator, he spotted one of his immediate seniors carrying two large boxes and struggling to get into the elevator.

"Good morning, sempai. Do you need a hand with that?"

The elder man looked grateful for the offer. "Yes, that would be appreciated."

"What are these anyway?" asked Motoharu as he took one of the boxes before entering the elevator.

"Prototype Lockseed toys sent over from Bandai. As part of your orientation, we're having your group participate in an exercise on how we should work out our marketing campaign for this new batch of merchandise. Don't worry, there's also a Sengoku Driver in the box as well so you can hear how the Lockseeds would announce themselves. Maybe that'll give you guys some ideas."

"That sounds interesting. Thanks for the heads up." The two men engaged in some idle chatter for a bit as the elevator went up. They finally reached the 10th floor where the orientation would be held and as they stepped out of the elevator, they both heard a cell phone ringtone.

"I should get this. You go on ahead," said the elder man as he placed his box down to take the call.

Motoharu nodded as he moved along the hallway. As soon as he turned right to an empty corridor, he felt an odd sensation of falling deep into nothingness while his vision turned black…

The next thing he knew, he found himself lying on his back in a grassy field with an open blue sky above him. 'What the hell…?' This shouldn't be possible. He had been inside the Toei Company headquarters just a minute ago. The box he had been carrying was no longer with him as well.

"Where am I?" Motoharu would be further confused by hearing the sound of horse hooves roaring, the sound of guns firing and the desperate shouts of foot soldiers armed with spears and katanas. Bodies of fallen soldiers littered the area. 'Geez, this feels like the Warring States Era…'

"Hey, who's that guy?!" He turned to see some soldiers; all dressed in infantry armour, that now have their attention on him.

"That must be an enemy! Who else would dress weird like that?" That was all the reason they needed before they started attacking him.

"Gotta move!" Wasting no time, Motoharu got to his feet and began running while keeping himself out of harm by dodging those spears and the arrows that were fired at him. 'Dammit, is this some freaky dream I'm having?!'

"Boy, it's dangerous!"

He barely had time to register that voice as he was covered by someone. A short built Imagawan foot soldier that came and picked up Motoharu's body under his arms before taking off. For now, it seems like they were out of danger.

Once they made it inside the forest safely where no foot soldiers were lying in wait, the short built foot soldier dropped Motoharu down with a tired sigh and sat down with his back to a large tree trunk. "Thank you for saving me but why did you do it?"

"Kid, you're a shinobi of the Oda right? That body movement isn't ordinary."

"What?"

"I worked for the Imagawa lord but, that person hates poor shaped men. I didn't think I could be promoted." What had been odd about the foot soldier's face is that it looked like that of a wrinkled monkey. "So, in the middle of the confusion of this battle, I thought of going over to Oda. Hey, kid, would you introduce me to the Oda lord?"

"Er, I'm no shinobi." Motoharu had been part of the University's Kendo Club during the time he had been a student. Thank goodness that he had developed those reflexes training intensively with the senior kendoka.

"Am I wrong?"

"I am Sasaki Motoharu and I am a new employee of Toei Company. In any case, I am not a warrior."

The other man shrugged. "Even I am a son of a farmer. However, right now it's a chaotic world. If you can get achievements in battle, you can get promoted. My dream is to become the lord of a feudal domain!"

"A lord of a feudal domain…."

"Yeah. As a man, having been born into this world, I can't think of a life without wishing for a feudal domain of my own! Because if you become the lord of a castle, you'll be popular with the ladies!"

'… What?' That was really the last thing Motoharu had been expecting to hear. But still, there was a certain earnestness about that foot soldier that he found endearing. "You look like a good guy, and you saved my life. I'll gamble on your dream. Let's try going together to Oda!"

First, he needed to get his bearings and remember all the things he had learned from taking Japanese history as one of his optional courses during his University years. Assuming this is really the Warring States period, they needed to head to Owari which was Oda territory. He didn't have high hopes of getting employment in the Oda army, but he somehow felt that things would go well. Oda Nobunaga is a progressive Feudal Lord who was more focused on competence. Origins didn't matter for him.

With a plan in mind, the two men exited the forest but…

"Fugu?"

The short built foot soldier was suddenly crouching while pressing his chest.

"What's wrong?" asked Motoharu in concern.

"…I was hit by a stray bullet… I wasn't lucky…"

"W-What did you say?" At once, the area around the chest was dyed in red as blood came out of the wound. Motoharu's face quickly became pale as this was his first time seeing a person's death up close. While shaking, he laid the foot soldier on the side of the road, at the side of a Buddhist statue.

"…..Kid. This is it for me. You should go by yourself."

"I can't leave you behind!"

"You never know when those with ambitions will die. This is the norm for the chaotic world of the Warring States….I will give my companion to you. Please fulfill my dream of being a feudal lord and being popular with the ladies."

'I'm not a goddamn harem seeker!' Still, Motoharu would say whatever it took to give a sense of comfort to the dying man. "I'll carry on your dream. What's your name? Once I become a feudal lord, I'll make a huge grave for you."

"….My name is…..Kinoshita…Toukichirou…."

That name sounded familiar. It took the other man about ten seconds to realize that name. "… no freaking way."

"…later, kid. Live, for the ambition of becoming popular."

Whoa. Wait a bloody second! By Kinoshita Toukichirou-isn't it Toyotomi Hideyoshi? The man who rose up to conquer Japan by working for Oda Nobunaga? Isn't he a hero among heroes who got the greatest promotion in Japanese history? Thinking about it, short built and a monkey face- and his friendliness, there was no mistaking the fact that it was Hideyoshi. And he was dying right in front of Motoharu.

"Oi, don't die! If you die, Japanese history will be changed in ways I can't imagine! If you don't work for Oda Nobunaga, then…!"

"….Who is Oda Nobunaga? ….The name of the Lord of the Oda is…..Nobu…..na…." Those were the man's last words before he finally took his last breath and left this world.

'This isn't happening… it's all a dream, right?' No matter how much he tried to convince himself (via lots of pinching of the cheeks), Motoharu's reality remained the same. 'Am I going to die here…?'

No, he wouldn't accept that. His life had been taking some positive turns back home and he was damned if he would just roll over and die in this Warring States period! He took a deep breath, forcing himself not to panic and think. He needed to turn things around to ensure his survival for the time being. What assets did he have?

He quickly checked his briefcase. Among the contents were a blank notebook, a pencil case with pencils, pens and two financial calculators (a habit drilled into him thanks to his mother consistently nagging that he bring a backup calculator for his accounting final exams), a bento, bottled water … and a Sengoku Driver?

It felt a bit different and weighed a bit more. As if it was made out of something else other than plastic. Filing that anomaly away, the last item he could find was a Lockseed labelled 'L.S-07' but the colour looked red. The exact same colour as the blood that he saw gush out of Hideyoshi earlier.

His thoughts were interrupted as a white horse galloped past him with a beautiful blonde girl riding it. She had a red cloak on her shoulders along with black armour like that of a warlord in this era. One of the enemy soldiers tried to charge at her but her speed was too much. With a well-timed dismounting of her horse, she easily dispatched of that man.

"Huurraagghh!" Another enemy came out of nowhere and tried to slash her from above but she blocked his strike. Unfortunately, the damage that her katana had accumulated was enough to shatter the tip of her blade, sending it flying off.

With his enemy without a proper weapon, the male soldier prepared to advance. "Your life is mine!"

Motoharu knew that he should get out of here. Stay focused on his goal of trying to survive and eventually return home. But his sense of ethics screamed at him that it would be wrong to turn his back on someone who needed help. Especially a pretty girl.

'Goddammit… how am I going to do this?' He thought back to his assets and remembered the Sengoku Driver had its own sound effects along with the Lockseed. Maybe that would be enough to scare off that man.

"Here goes nothing…" He moved as quickly as he could to get in front of the blonde girl and in front of the other man. "Stop right there!"

The enemy soldier paused for a brief moment. "Are you an Oda soldier too?"

"No but I'm not the type of man who would turn his back on someone who needs help!" growled Motoharu.

"Hmph… and what can you do against me? You're unarmed!"

Motoharu held up the Lockseed and smirked. "Oh, I wouldn't know about that." Alright, time for the mechanized voice to do its thing. He flipped the switch sideways to unlock the Lockseed.

**BLOOD ORANGE!**

But what happened next pretty much caught everyone by surprise. A zipping sound was heard and the enemy soldier in front of him began freaking out. "By Buddha, what is that?!"

'He's looking above me?' One quick glance showed that a huge orange fruit hovered in the air with a portal just a few inches above it. It was a portal to that weird forest, Helheim Forest if he recalled correctly from all those promotional materials that he kept running into while doing his application and interview at Toei. 'If something like that works, then…!'

Acting quickly, he placed the Sengoku Driver on his waist and it automatically attached to his body. Next is to attach the Lockseed in place just like how he saw it on the commercial advertising the latest Kamen Rider series.

**LOCK ON!**

His Sengoku Driver began blaring out some music played from a rock guitar. Now for the finish. "Henshin!" Motoharu then reached for the Cutting Blade switch and pressed it down to slice open the Lockseed. Inside was the image of the blood orange's inside while at the bottom was a picture of an orange slice styled sword surrounded by black flames.

**BLOOD ORANGE ARMS! JA NO MICHI ON STAGE!**

At that point, the orange dropped and landed on his shoulders, engulfing his head. He felt his body ripple and the energy wrapped around him to form a dark blue bodysuit which had quilted leather. On the arms and legs were golden bracers and leg coverings which added extra protection. After that, his head was covered too with a blue helmet which had a silver and black mouth guard and a red sword–like decoration on the forehead. The visor was appeared like an orange slice but in red. The orange then sparked and began to disassemble, the red sides folding in half to form the shoulder pads, the red chest plate with black flame marks coming up from the bottom.

Appearing in his hand was a short scimitar which was styled after an orange slice but red in colour. On his side was a black sword with a gold line on the blade with a trigger under the sword guard and the cross–like guard looked like it actually doubled as a gun.

"W-what are you?!" There was fear on the man's face, a stark contrast from how he had been so confident and sure of himself not too long ago.

_"I am…"_ Motoharu paused for a moment upon noticing that his voice in the suit sounded very different, exactly like that voice actor who played Emiya Kiritsugu on the Fate Zero anime. He can have his fangasm later. Right now, he had an intro to finish. _"Kamen Rider Bujin Gaim."_

"B-Bujin Gaim? I've never heard of such a name…!"

The crimson clad warrior prepared his weapon. _"Then let that riddle accompany your soul as you head to the other world."_

That was more than enough to get the other man up and running away from the area. 'Good, he's running. One problem down.'

He lowered his sword before turning to the blonde girl. _"Are you alright?"_

"Yes, I'm fine thanks to your efforts." She paused for a moment as her thoughts came together. "Are you some sort of onmyōji?"

_"Not exactly. Just someone both blessed and cursed."_ The conversation was soon interrupted by the thundering noise of approaching horses. The soldiers were carrying yellow banners with a black flowery crest in the middle. One of the horses trotted closer, with the rider being a young woman with a ponytail in blue garments, silver armour and sporting a large blue-handle, European-styled halberd. She was quick to point that weapon at Motoharu.

"Get away from Nobuna-sama this instant!"

That name echoed in his head. 'Didn't I hear that name before from Hideyoshi?'

"Riku, stop! That man saved my life."

The words from the blonde girl seemed enough to stop the other woman. "Is that so?"

"Yes. Now keep pressing forward and rout the Imagawa."

"… by your will." With that said, she took off along with the other soldiers.

_"Um… just to make sure I wasn't hearing things, she addressed you as 'Nobuna-sama'?"_ asked Motoharu.

"That's right. Head of the Oda family, Oda Nobuna," replied the girl coolly.

_"Strange. History as I recall it has Oda Nobunaga as the head of the family in this time period."_

A puzzled look appeared on the female warlord's face. "Who's Nobunaga?"

_"Never mind."_

"You really are a strange man," mumbled Nobuna to herself before heading to fetch her white horse from earlier.

'Oh… kay. So not only am I in the Warring States era and Hideyoshi is dead but I'm standing right in front of a gender flipped Oda Nobunaga.' Geez, what else should he expect? Monsters of the week that he would have to fight as a Kamen Rider?

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

**Doing this on a random whim thanks to reading a lot of other stories of OC being dropped in other world and getting Kamen Rider powers. My Kamen Rider familiarity is limited so I'll be mainly looking at the wiki for stuff.**


	2. Bujin Gaim, Nobuna's Monkey

It is the age of the civil wars. The land is divided by powerful warlords, who constantly fight each other. Any internal power struggle is an invitation for your neighbors to attack. So it is decided that the firstborn child, regardless of gender, would become the head of the family. The result of this was the birth of the Princess Generals.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing about Ambition of Oda Nobuna or Kamen Rider. The only thing I own here is my OC.**

**Second Slice: Bujin Gaim, the Monkey of Nobuna**

The trip back to the Oda clan castle had been quiet and uneventful. That was fine for the untransformed Motoharu as he could now start thinking about things while waiting for Nobuna to receive him in the main chamber.

For starters, he spotted the corpse of the man who had fled earlier so that meant Nobuna was the only person who knew of his power. It was likely that she had shared this info with some of her close generals judging by the way the woman called 'Riku' had been glancing at him and his Sengoku Driver from time to time during the trip.

Speaking of the Driver, how did it come to life? And how did it get into his briefcase? He couldn't know for certain. Perhaps some of the contents of the box he had been carrying spilled into his briefcase during his unexplained trip through time. In any case, Motoharu was thankful that the Driver stayed with him but that brought up a new concern.

The box had apparently been filled with a lot of prototype Lockseed toys. If they were scattered around this era and were brought to life as well, who knew what disasters they could unleash on the people? He would have to be vigilant and do his best to keep an eye out for things. In the meantime, he was certain that the Oda warlord would be making good use of him and his Rider powers.

As for learning how to use some of his finishing moves like the Rider Kick, he had a Rider demo file saved on his iPhone (which he would have to use very conservatively since the overall battery life would only be 5-6 hours at most) which explained how the finishers would be done with the Sengoku Driver. In fact, for the past thirty minutes while waiting for Nobuna, he had been doing just that.

"Excuse me but Nobuna-sama is ready to see you," said a female attendant softly.

'Alrighty then… let's do this.' He could read more about the Sengoku Finishers later. Right now, he had something else to be more concerned about. In the form of a freshly changed Nobuna who had one sleeve of her bath robe exposed, a long sword and a short sword tied with a straw rope, a flint bag and a gourd hanging from her waist. Also on the hakama covering her waist and legs, there was a tiger skin tied like a loincloth. On her right shoulder was an imported weapon of the barbarians-a black gun.

'I gotta relax. I sat through Todai interviews and Toei Company interviews so this shouldn't be a problem.' With a neutral expression, Motoharu waited until Nobuna was ready. He could see three other ladies in the chamber as well. There was that girl Riku, a small girl with blue hair, a spear and a tiger pelt on her head and another young lady with a flower in her black hair and a folded up fan.

"I recall earlier that you said you weren't an onmyōji but how do you explain that armour?" Nobuna's face lit up briefly. "Is it some sort of barbarian technology?"

"No, it isn't. To be honest, prior to my arrival here, the Sengoku Driver had actually been created as a prop for a performance. I had never expected it to turn out the way it did." He paused for a moment before speaking again. "Before we go forward, may I ask for the names of your other advisors so I can address them properly?"

"Very well. On my right side is Nagahide Niwa, my tactical advisor. On my left are Shibata Katsuie and Maeda Toshiie."

"I… see." Geez, did all the major players in this era have their gender switched or something? How could the history records be so off the mark?

"What is it?" growled Katsuie. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Um… history as I recall it portrayed you as a large man with a big beard, Shibata-san."

"HUH?! Where did you get that from?!" She stood up and stomped over to Motoharu's position before thrusting her colossal bosom right in front of his face. "Do I look like a man to you?!"

"MMPH!" As nice as it was getting a close encounter with a beautiful lady's chest, he needed oxygen.

It took her a moment to realize what she was doing and she backed off with a horrified expression. "What's wrong with you?! Stop staring at my breasts!"

"OI! You're the one who smothered me in your chest so don't start blaming me for this!" Seriously, Motoharu was rather annoyed right now. If this were an anime, he would have a big fat angry vein on his head.

Before he could engage in a glaring contest with Katsuie, the light laughter from Nobuna changed the atmosphere. "You looked like you were going to pop off like a monkey! Hey, now that's a good name for you! From now on, you'll be Saru!"

"Uh… I'm flattered." The Japanese man looked a little deflated. 'I guess I really am taking over Hideyoshi's role.'

"And he does wear armour that looks like a fruit which is what monkeys like to eat," continued Nobuna with a proud look.

"Good observation. Eighty points," said Niwa. "In any case, if we're going to use him as a retainer, he needs some sort of position."

"True. Inuchiyo, take Saru to his new quarters while we discuss things here." The small girl nodded before dragging Motoharu away to the local village. They finally arrived at a small hut that was in need of repairs.

"A real fixer upper, huh? Well, I should be fortunate that I have a place to stay." He started unpacking some of the things from his briefcase.

"Oh, we have a new neighbour?" An elder gentleman appeared at the entrance of Motoharu's new home.

"Old man Asano," greeted Inuchiyo.

The older man then noticed Motoharu. "Hoh… you really do remind me of myself in my youth."

"Uh, thanks?"

"Perhaps if you don't like this place, you can live at my inn. The only catch is that you'll have to take over as manager and marry my daughter Nene," continued Asano.

"Well, it couldn't hurt to take a look," muttered Motoharu.

A few minutes later, he saw the inn for himself. It looked like a simple but cozy building. Doing managerial work wouldn't be a problem but the whole marriage thing bothered him. Especially since the potential bride was only a child. A little girl in a pink tunic with short brown hair and appeared to be less than ten years old.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Monkey!" Dammit, that nickname was spreading around.

"Yeah, I'll have to pass on this marriage thing. She's too young for me." Motoharu was certainly no pedophile. "But I can certainly do the manager job. I'm good with balancing the budgets and won't have any issues doing staff performance reviews."

"Would you be willing to marry my daughter when she gets to an appropriate age?"

Geez, that old man was persistent. "Well, I really don't-"

He got cut off as Inuchiyo tensed up. "Intruder!" She shoved him aside and thrust her yari at the ceiling. The weapon broke through but all this did was generate a lot of smoke which was enough time for the mystery intruder to get away… with Motoharu.

* * *

"So you failed to slay the idiot Oda, huh?" Imagawa Yoshimoto, ruler of the eastern coastal provinces and the daimyo closest to conquering Japan, calmly paced around her miniature football field. Her dragon tiara and multi layered kimono weren't exactly proper attire for playing an intensive sporting match but here, she was just idly fitting around with the ball while letting the goalkeeper sweat.

"I'm terribly sorry! We almost had her and someone interfered," replied a meek little girl with green hair, a green goalkeeping uniform and glasses. She had odd hair decorations such as a pair of green bear ears and a little black hat of sorts. Her name is Matsudaira Motoyasu, the future Tokugawa Ieyasu, but for now a mere Imagawa servant.

"I'll have to cut your pay again as punishment." Imagawa gave a large kick and sent the ball flying but it was saved by Motoyasu.

"No way! I'm already eating nothing but potatoes four days a week!" The smaller girl sighed to herself and thought to best let her mistress have this one for now. Perhaps she can get that pay cut decision reversed by giving her mistress the trinket she found earlier.

"Ohohohoho~!" Obviously Imagawa was enjoying her servant's discomfort. It didn't last long as a Shinobi appeared on the field, body enveloped in smoke. "Is that you, Hanzo?"

Hattori Hanzo made his report. "The one who interfered is called Monkey by the Oda clan."

"Ohohohoho! So she hired a monkey? Nobuna is such a fool!"

While Imagawa laughed her heart out, Hanzo's thoughts were on Saru… or rather the armour he possessed. The one that changes him from a simple man to the armoured warrior named Bujin Gaim.

'Saru… no, Bujin Gaim. You will be the key to set my master free from this cage.'

* * *

"Ow!" Motoharu had to take a moment and get a hold of things once the mystery assailant dropped him on the ground. 'Cripes… my suit's probably all wrinkled. It'll be a pain trying to iron this… assuming Nobuna has some irons at her castle.'

He looked at the person across from him, a small girl wearing a chain mail and ninja outfit that was entirely black. The shinobi girl was like a kitten, slender and short. By Motoharu's guess, he figured she would be around elementary school 5th year if she had existed in his timeline.

Her mouth was concealed with a mask but her eyes alone were exposed. Her pupils were a crimson colour that would make you shiver, and her eyelashes were surprisingly long.

"My name is Hachisuka Goemon. From now on, instead of Kinoshita, I will serve wyou."

The man just stared at her before sighing. 'Seriously, what is it with little girls and them being ridiculously powerful here?'

"Sorry, I'm not good with long sentences," mumbled Goemon.

"Are you a friend of Toukichirou-san?"

"I am a companion. He is the trunk, and I the shinobi stay in the shadow of that tree. So we join wour forces and try and get pwomoted together. That was the promise."

An amused look came to Motoharu's face. "So thirty characters is your limit, huh."

Beneath the mask, the child ninja's face became red. "S-Shut up. What is your name?"

"Sasaki Motoharu."

Goemon nodded. "Then, from now on I will lead your vassals the Kawanami Group and work for Sasaki."

"Well, before we get into any employment contract, I would like to make sure we have clearly defined terms and expectations of each other." He wished he had his notebook here so he could create a written record of this arrangement.

"Sasaki, I will have one hair of yours." Pluck.

"Huh? Why is that?"

Goemon brought out a straw doll from inside her chest, and started stuffing the hair inside it. "It's the contract for becoming our master."

'So much for a written contract.' Ah, whatever. It's time to assess his new assets. "If we're going to be working together, then I need to know what you can do."

"As a ninja, I can blend into forests or towns and gather information. I am good with smoke bombs and bwades." She stopped for a second to get control of her tongue again. "If needed, I can knock out soldiers or destroy water sources."

'I guess she's something like a Genin or Chuunin in Naruto terms?' Some impressive skills but certainly nothing crazy like Chidori or Rasengan. "Also, please tell me about this Kawanami group as that would be helpful."

"Most of the members are former samurai. They are skilled at building rafts and escaping from pursuers by wiver flows." She paused for a moment. "There is one new member who is…"

"Goemon, what's wrong?"

Before she could answer, a pair of distorted voices replied. _**"Perhaps it would be better if we explained it."**_ Motoharu's eyes widened as he could see specks of green and black light phase in and intermingle with each other behind Goemon.

"That's…!"

**CYCLONE!**

**JOKER!**

The energy came together to form a suit of armour, the right side being green and the left side being black. A pair of red eyes stared at him with a silver V-fin at the top of his head. A red belt hung around his waist and a silver scarf completed the look.

_**"We are Bujin Double,"**_ announced the newly formed Kamen Rider.

"So that's how it is…!" How could he have not noticed? His Lockseed had been based off a character from the upcoming Kamen Rider movie at the end of the year so he should have figured that the remaining prototype Lockseeds would be based off the other Bujin Riders. So this would be his main mission when not working for Nobuna: to locate and capture the remaining Bujin Rider Lockseeds.

In addition, he would be at a large disadvantage. Motoharu stopped watching Kamen Rider at the end of the Blade series. That meant there were nine Kamen Riders out of the fourteen representing the Heisei Era that he only had second hand knowledge about in terms of abilities and powers.

Still, if their power was misused in this era, the consequences to his timeline would be dire. He had to step up to the plate and secure those Lockseeds.

_**"Tell us… as the one who inherited the dream of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, why should we swear our oath to you?"**_

Motoharu gave a small chuckle. "Heh… honestly, I can say a lot of things. I mean, I've already rehearsed on how to answer this interview question on why I should be the one for the job and all. But after a long day today…"

He whipped out his Blood Orange Lockseed and strapped the Sengoku Driver to his waist.

**BLOOD ORANGE!**

"I think I'm ready to let something else do the talking for me." With one swift movement, he put the Lockseed into place.

**LOCK ON!**

"Henshin!" The Cutting Blade did its thing and the fruit from Helheim Forest fell on Motoharu to form his armour.

**BLOOD ORANGE ARMS! JA NO MICHI ON STAGE!**

The transformation complete, Kamen Rider Bujin Gaim stepped forward with his Daidaimaru in his left hand and the newly drawn Musou Saber in his right.

**_"Interesting." _**Bujin Double tilted his head slightly towards Goemon. _**"Don't interfere with this… interview. And make sure the others don't get involved either."**_

The small ninja nodded once before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

_**"So are you prepared to take on the role of Hideyoshi and serve Oda? How many sins will you have to count at the end of your journey?"**_

Bujin Gaim snorted. _"I'm already walking the path of Shadows. If you wish to test me, come and tempt your fate at my hands."_

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

**Damn, I got this out quick. Muse is running sorta hot for this but I'll have to really buckle down to do some good choreography in my mind and translate to paper. I don't know how well I can do since my Kamen Rider knowledge is limited. Anyways, I hope you guys liked it.**


	3. Probation

It is the age of the civil wars. The land is divided by powerful warlords, who constantly fight each other. Any internal power struggle is an invitation for your neighbors to attack. So it is decided that the firstborn child, regardless of gender, would become the head of the family. The result of this was the birth of the Princess Generals.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing about Ambition of Oda Nobuna or Kamen Rider. The only thing I own here is my OC.**

**Third Slice: Probation**

Seriously, what had he been thinking? Starting off a fight in a dual wield form? Sure, it may look cool but being able to fight well with dual weapons was something commonly more seen in manga, anime, games and movies. Trying to do this in real life was quite troublesome. At least Bujin Gaim had a little knowledge of nito-waza kendo techniques but it was quite limited so he would need to switch styles quickly to keep Bujin Double off guard. Heck, he could even try using those fictional dual wield techniques he learned when he helped a friend make a Star Wars lightsaber choreography video four months ago.

Speaking of nito-waza, he wasn't sure if he would be able to pull them off properly with his blades being as they were. The Musou Saber's weight wasn't exactly ideal so he would have to limit his offense. As for the Daidaimaru, the balance felt off and the overall shape was just not proper for a short shinai. The blade's shape was in the form of a freaking bloody orange slice for crying out loud!

Bujin Gaim noticed that he wasn't bothered too much by the weight of his Blood Orange armour. Probably due to how he got easily used to wearing kendo armour when training or participating in tournaments. Now he just needed to have an idea of how much power his punches and kicks could have along with his speed. After all, Rider armour always enhanced the user's physical attributes and allowed them to jump to great heights for the Rider Kick finishing move.

A quick check of his surroundings showed a small shrine and forest behind Bujin Double. Behind Motoharu himself was a long drop down the hill. If he actually turned around, he would have a nice overhead view of the local village where he had been kidnapped from earlier. The sun was starting to set so he would have to be careful of his positioning so that the glare wouldn't blind his vision.

With all factors now accounted for, Bujin Gaim made the first move with his Musou Saber going for an overhead strike. Bujin Double ducked and moved in for a counter attack but the kick was blocked by Daidaimaru. Undaunted, the black and green warrior crouched low for a foot sweep which had Bujin Gaim hopping over the leg to avoid it before the fruit armoured Rider charged forward, raising both his blades for a powerful double slash attack.

Bujin Double however got back into position and raised one leg to flip Bujin Gaim backwards into the forest. The moment, Motoharu rolled back on his feet, he barely dodged a quick jump kick from his opponent. The kick was enough to force his right hand to drop the Musou Saber but he wasn't bothered by it. His free hand immediately moved over to Daidaimaru's handle and he got into a kendo stance before going in again. _**"MEN!"**_

The movements were coming a bit more fluidly now that he had adjusted a bit to his armour and was now using his preferred combat style. His strikes came more naturally, forcing the green and black Rider on the defensive, dodging and blocking attacks. This continued for a few moments until Bujin Gaim spotted his enemy's footing was a bit off and took the opportunity for a full contact charge.

Bujin Double had trouble stopping the momentum of the other warrior and was forced to keep moving backwards. With a tree in the path behind him, he knew that he would be pinned and at Bujin Gaim's mercy if this kept up. He had to time this right.

As soon as he got within one foot of the tree, he lifted his legs so they could grip the bark and then pushed off to flip over his enemy. Just as Bujin Double landed, he received a quick snap kick from his opponent to force him back briefly.

One hand immediately went to the Cutting Blade of Motoharu's Sengoku Driver. 'One should be enough for this one.' A quick tap of the Cutting Blade caused it to 'slice' a part of the Lockseed and power up his sword.

**BLOOD ORANGE SQUASH!**

Daidaimaru glowed briefly with energy and after Bujin Gaim made two quick slashing motions it sent two energy waves towards his enemy's direction but they missed him entirely as they sailed upwards.

_**"You missed,"**_ said Bujin Double in a deadpan tone.

_"Did I?"_

_**"…!"** _Bujin Double heard the crackling of tree branches above and saw that he was currently in the path of the debris. As he moved, he heard that sound again from Bujin Gaim's belt.

**BLOOD ORANGE SQUASH!**

The next thing he knew, Bujin Double's chest was the recipient of Bujin Gaim's charged up Rider Kick, complete with slices of blood orange sprinkling about. His body would have flown off but his back did hit another tree in the forest, cancelling the flight.

_**"Che… you really pack a good one."** _As he got up, he saw that Bujin Gaim had recovered his Musou Saber and fused the handles of his swords together to form a naginata. _**"Well, looks like we need to kick it up a notch!"**_

He produced a small object that looked like a grey coloured USB in his left hand before pressing down on the object.

**METAL!**

_"Mode change?!"_ While Bujin Gaim tried to figure out what type of benefits came with that new form, Bujin Double placed the object in his belt before pressing down on both ends to trigger the change.

**CYCLONE!**

**METAL!**

The black half of Bujin Double changed colour to silver and a staff appeared at the back of his body. He wasted no time in deploying the Metal Shaft and beginning the attack. Bujin Gaim quickly found himself a bit overwhelmed while trying to defend himself as he had virtually no experience fighting a skilled bojutsu master and in less than a minute, he found himself back where he started near the edge of the hill.

Bujin Double saw his chance and activated his Metal Gaia Memory again.

**METAL!**

_**"Try handling this!"**_ A slot in the Metal Shaft opened and the Metal Gaia Memory was inserted.

**METAL! MAXIMUM DRIVE!**

With a strong force of wind now surrounding the weapon, Bujin Double began swinging it towards Bujin Gaim. _**"Metal Twister!"**_

_"CRAP!"_ The sheer force of the wind generated was enough to cause Bujin Gaim to lose footing and tumble downwards the hill.

_**"This clinches it!"**_ One quick Gaia Memory switch later…

**CYCLONE!**

**JOKER!**

… caused his left side to change back to Joker. Then he brought the black USB up and placed it in an insertion slot on the right side of his waist.

**JOKER! MAXIMUM DRIVE!**

Bujin Double leapt off the hill and got into position to execute his own Rider Kick finishing move just as Bujin Gaim stumbled back to his feet. _**"Joker Extreme!"**_

_"Like hell you'll win so easily!"_ growled Motoharu before tapping the Cutting Blade three times and causing his armour to shift back into a giant blood orange shield form on his head.

**BLOOD ORANGE SPARKING!**

Armoured head collided with feet, causing both combatants to back off. Bujin Gaim was trying to control his breathing as his armour shifted back to normal, not wanting to give off any indication that his stamina was nearing its limit. 'When I have a chance, I need to ask for extra training from Shibata-san. She can help build my stamina up. Inuchiyo too since she seems pretty skilled with that spear weapon of hers. And I wonder if Goemon would teach me a ninja trick or two.' After all, he would need to be able to fight for prolonged periods if he's going up against other Bujin Riders and fighting Nobuna's enemies.

Right now, he was going to finish this battle. His left hand started drifting over to his Lockseed so he could detach it and lock it to the Musou Saber end of his weapon for the Blood Orange Charge when he heard Bujin Double sigh briefly. _**"Stop. That's enough."**_

_"What?"_

_**"We've evaluated your performance. You've displayed some good planning skills and made use of the environment during the battle. Combat skills aren't too shabby. But you're lacking a few things."**_

_"Oi, it's my first day fighting in this suit!"_ snapped Bujin Gaim. _"And on top of that, my stress level is pretty damn high thanks to unexpected travel between worlds so cut me a little slack!"_

Bujin Double chuckled briefly. _**"That's not quite it. In any case, let's make a little deal."**_

_"Che…"_ Motoharu was feeling exhausted and frustrated. At this point, he wasn't sure if he really wanted to listen to what the other Rider had to say. _"What is it?"_

_**"We'll put you on probation and allow you to access a part of our power. This trial will see if you can bring out your potential needed to survive and thrive in this reality. Once you have proven yourself to be a worthy lord, we shall offer our full power to you."**_

'Survive and thrive…? That's right. This is the Warring States era where death can truly happen at any time. It happened to Hideyoshi… and it can happen to me too.' Bujin Gaim slowly caught his breath. _"A worthy lord, huh?"_

_**"Yes. A samurai's greatest pride is to serve under a wise and competent lord. We have high hopes that you can fill the criteria."** _The Rider began to fade slowly, leaving only traces of green and black behind along with a single Lockseed that showed the head of a black Rider with red eyes and a silver V-Fin. Bujin Gaim picked it up and unlocked it to hear the voice come out.

**JOKER!**

'Only Joker at this time. A backup and low quality trump card.' At least he had one Lockseed back and a backup suit in case the Blood Orange Lockseed was stolen from him. It's time to return to the village and settle in.

* * *

"Yoshitatsu plans to attack Oda, huh?" An elder bald man with a moustache sighed to himself. "He's still young."

The elder man is known as Saitou Dousan, the daimyo of Mino. A legend in the civil wars that started as a merchant and came to rule an entire province.

"Nobuhide of the Owari province has died," said one of his advisors. "The one who rose in his place is a foolish girl with a taste for barbarian fashions."

"Normally, she would be an excellent target," mumbled Dousan.

"Indeed. If you leave it to us and Yoshitatsu, we will destroy her immediately."

"No, I'll take a different route with her. A path of friendship." All of the advisors were surprised by what the older man was saying. "She does what others will not consider. That is the resolve needed to conquer this land."

* * *

"So it's been decided, Saru. You'll start off as a foot-soldier and earn your way up. Be grateful!" exclaimed Nobuna the following day when she and the others reconvened in the main chamber.

'… four years. Four years of studying my ass off in Todai only to become a grunt in the military,' thought Motoharu sourly to himself. Of course, he did not let this displeasure show on his face.

"Now for other news, the Viper of Mino province has requested an audience."

"They are a rival of ours," replied Niwa, her tone laced with caution.

"If the entire Imagawa starts proceeding towards the capital, Owari would be crushed like an ant," reasoned the blonde female warlord. "Having them aligned with us will be in our best interests. I wonder where he'll want us to meet."

"It'll probably be at Shoutokuji Temple," said Motoharu. He inserted the word probably since he was now aware that his history lessons had a chance of being highly inaccurate.

Nobuna was about to question that statement when a messenger arrived at the door, confirming what the young Japanese man said earlier.

"How did he…?" Katsuie had a surprised look on her face.

Niwa hid her own reaction behind her fan. "Ara… quite impressive. Ninety points."

"Saru, how did you know?" asked Nobuna with a bit of awe coming over her.

"I learned that in my history class," said Motoharu in a cool tone. "In addition, you might want to bring a show of arms to send a message to him that you are ready for anything so that he doesn't get any ideas like an ambush."

"Dearu ka…" Nobuna quickly went back to her commanding form. "Hm… then five hundred riflemen should do it. And like Saru said, we'll have to send a message that shows the Viper of Mino our resolve so the men will march with the rifles lit."

"Isn't that dangerous?" asked Inuchiyo.

"The soldiers of Oda are the best there is. There won't be any problem." Nobuna's decision was final. "Riku, Saru, Inuchiyo: you'll be coming with me on the trip. Machiyo, look after things here while we're gone."

* * *

The trip went quietly for the most part. The only odd sign was a glint of light in the distance so that meant Dousan was already observing them.

As the time displaced young man was now officially an Oda foot soldier, he had to dress appropriately for the part but oddly, Nobuna found his strange attire somewhat interesting and insisted that he keep the suit on. They came to a minor compromise in that he would wear the chest armour over his white dress shirt and ditch the tie and jacket since it would be quite hot outside. The chest armour was big enough to also conceal the Sengoku Driver on his waist and allowed for enough room for his hand to sneak in there and use the Cutting Blade to activate the Blood Orange Lockseed.

Motoharu spent some time talking some more with Nobuna herself and other members of her inner circle during the trip. Inuchiyo had agreed to help train him in spear fighting in exchange for sweetfish. Shibata admitted that she was technically the retainer of Nobuna's younger brother, Nobukatsu and is only temporarily working for Nobuna at the moment.

As for Nobuna, he found that while she did share the desire to unite the country just like Nobunaga, there was a certain cheerful energy around her. A certain sense of optimism that he found endearing. She probably would have gotten along fabulously with the real Hideyoshi.

The group finally arrived at the temple and Nobuna went to go prepare herself while the others waited.

"She's late," noted Dousan.

Beside Dousan is a young girl of around 17 years of age, with large violet eyes, and long violet hair in long strands, that extends seemingly down to her knees, tied with a yellow ribbon. Her attire consisted of a vibrant blue kimono with a large bow in front and a set of brown, heeled boots. A katana rested at her side, showing her status as a samurai.

She went by the name of Mitsuhide Akechi and is Dousan's second-in command. "Dousan-sama, you shouldn't dress like that at an important meeting."

"She'll do the same," droned the old man to his assistant. "Making others feel at ease is part of being a great leader."

"Mino's viper! Sorry for making you wait!"

Suddenly, Nobuna appeared in the temple building and there was one word that Motoharu could say to describe her.

Stunning.

That sparkling hair was let down and she was wearing a top class pink kimono beautifully. Her previously filthy face with soot had no makeup as usual but it was white like ceramic tiles and her smooth skin was exposed.

'Damn, she's gorgeous. Quite a surprise move to dress up like that.' Even Dousan had his jaw hanging open.

"Why did you change your clothes?" asked the Viper of Mino as he finally regained his senses.

"I can't wear my usual outfit since I'm meeting with the Viper of Mino," replied Nobuna.

'Interesting. Dousan tried to make Nobuna feel at ease and Nobuna showed respect for Dousan.' Already, Motoharu could see glimpses of the battle of wits going on between the two from his vantage point, barely registering the fact that the sun seemed to have vanished due to some stormy clouds rolling in.

"You brought a lot of riflemen."

"It's the age of rifles now. Many call them barbarian toys but my soldiers will defeat anybody stupid enough to say that in a single shot," said Nobuna coolly. "Even though the Owari soldiers are said to be the weakest in Japan, with the rifles in their hands they are the strongest."

Dousan snorted. "Quite a boast there. So after you've allied with me, will you attack Suruga Province and Imagawa?"

"No. My focus will be on Mino." That caused shock to show up on Shibata's face along with Akechi. Dousan's face remained the same, a testament to his experience as daimyo.

"Why focus on Mino?"

"The same reason that you did, Viper. The one who rules Mino Province rules the nation. It's the center of Japan that divides east and west. Build a well-constructed castle there and the nation is as good as yours. To make a wealthy country where merchants can move freely… that was your ambition, isn't it?"

Dousan chuckled. "So you know that much, hm?"

Nobuna got up from her place just as a thundershower began outside. "I'm taking Mino Province." The sudden declaration caused Akechi to reach for her weapon. Motoharu was about to reach for his belt and Shibata was about to grab her own katana but a single gesture from both Dousan and Nobuna caused everyone to stay in position.

"Do you think I'll give it to you?"

"What if I told you that I'll carry on your dream? I'll destroy the old systems that have wreaked havoc in Japan and turn this into a united country that can compete with the barbarian nations!" declared the blonde warlord. "My focus is already on the whole world."

The elder daimyo laughed once. "So you're looking that far ahead? Your ideals are correct but nobody can follow you there. The fact they call you fool is proof of that."

"Even so, I'll still move forward."

"And destroy everything that gets in your path? If you wish to start with Mino…" Dousan got up to his full height. "I'll accept your challenge."

'He's only partially sold on the idea of letting her carry on his dream. He needs a final push and right now, Nobuna's closing pitch isn't doing it!' Time to step in.

"What are you doing?" Shibata and Inuchiyo tried to grab him but Motoharu already stepped in the temple. He took on a casual pose, keeping one hand near his belt in case of an emergency before addressing Dousan.

"Saru, get back!" Nobuna was clearly alarmed at this development.

"Saitou Dousan, you already know what lies in store for Mino so stop being so stubborn."

Dousan frowned before taking Akechi's katana. As soon as the younger Japanese man got into range, the elder man's blade was inches away from drawing blood from Motoharu's neck. "One wrong word and your head will be on the floor."

"Saru, apologize now! There's still time!"

'You really do look out for your underlings, Nobuna. How admirable.' The Toei employee focused on the elder man before him. "Dousan, when this meeting is over, you'll tell your men this: 'My children shall tie their horses at the gate of the fool of Owari' or something along those lines."

"W-what?"

Motoharu continued. "You already know that your son Yoshitatsu can't defeat Nobuna. Maybe at one point, you had thought there might have been a slim possibility that he could pull it off but now I can fully guarantee that it'll never happen."

"And what is this 'guarantee' you speak of?" asked Dousan out of skepticism.

Silence followed for a brief moment until a single click was heard from Motoharu's waist.

**LOCK ON!**

"Henshin."

**BLOOD ORANGE ARMS! JA NO MICHI ON STAGE!**

And Dousan received his second surprise of the meeting as a piece of fruit fell on the young man's head before forming a suit of armour and helmet painted in the colour of blood on top of a blue bodysuit. The accompanying lightning flashes from outside also served to accentuate the glare from the red Pulp Eye visor. His weapons were present but undrawn.

"W-what are you?" asked Akechi in a shaky tone.

_"I am he who walks the path of Shadows. The cold steel that will carve a path to the future. I am Kamen Rider Bujin Gaim."_

Dousan finally recovered from the surprise. "I find it odd that you have such power and you're not putting it to use to conquer the country. Instead you follow her? Why is that? Do you not have your own ambition? Your own dream?"

_"Dreams are built from the environment you grow up in. I grew up in the future. Because I did not grow up here, I have no dream relevant to this time period. But I can protect the dreams of others,"_ replied Bujin Gaim, paraphrasing a line from Kamen Rider Faiz. _"And if you let Nobuna continue your dream, I will protect it as well."_

A tense silence followed before the daimyo of Mino withdrew his weapon. "I have completely lost." Despite those words, he didn't seem too upset about that. "I never expected this retainer of yours to have come from the future and also transform into this Kamen Rider as well."

Nobuna couldn't help but smile. "That's my monkey for you."

With the situation defused, Motoharu released the armour, idly noticing that the thunderstorm outside has passed and the sun was coming out again. "You are a hero of the civil wars, Saitou Dousan."

"So I end up making my mark in the history books, huh?" With a satisfied grunt, Dousan placed the tip of the katana's blade on the floor. "Thanks to you, this Viper has become true to himself at the very end. I will prepare a treaty to hand over the province to my new daughter Nobuna-chan."

And thus, the meeting closed with Owari and Mino provinces forming an alliance.

* * *

'Man, I really took a gamble there. If I had really bad luck, the Timerangers would have warped right in to arrest me.' Motoharu was glad that things went well.

"I guess I'll have to praise you for this," grumbled Nobuna who was back in her normal outfit, her face turned away from the younger man to hide her flushed face. "All of this is thanks to you."

"You're welcome."

"You still barged in on the meeting so I need to punish you somehow and…" She paused when she heard an odd clicking sound. "What was that?"

In her monkey's hands, she could see that he was holding some sort of small red device. "Just taking a little picture to capture the moment."

"Picture? Let me see!" Nobuna was over by his side in an instant. "What is this, what is this? This is me? This portrait…! Not even Kanō Motonobu would be able to create this quality of a picture! This is amazing!"

Motoharu couldn't help but smile as his boss completely looked like a kid in a candy store. At least it beat out having to hear her chew him out for earlier. "Well, let me show you a few features on this."

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

**This one winded up bigger than expected, no thanks to a good chunk of this covering the battle and the rest covering the remaining bits of Nobuna Anime Episode 1. Anyways, please leave a review if you enjoyed.**


	4. Career Advancement

It is the age of the civil wars. The land is divided by powerful warlords, who constantly fight each other. Any internal power struggle is an invitation for your neighbors to attack. So it is decided that the firstborn child, regardless of gender, would become the head of the family. The result of this was the birth of the Princess Generals.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing about Ambition of Oda Nobuna or Kamen Rider. The only thing I own here is my OC.**

**Fourth Slice: Career Advancement**

It had taken about four days for Motoharu to settle into a routine in the new world.

The first day had been spent doing repair work around his new home and general cleaning. Nene had actually been quite helpful in that regard. He suspected that this was her father's subtle way of encouraging him to marry the girl when she's a bit older.

The next three days had been spent doing a combination of training with Inuchiyo, who kept a meticulous tab on the amount of sweetfish he would have to buy for her later, along with doing tasks around the village to keep it running smoothly such as crop harvesting and fetching water. Nene came over often to help with household chores and cooking. Asano came by once in a while and showed him a few interesting tricks from his youth when he had once served as a samurai.

And speaking of cooking, how the hell did she make a meal out of just leaves?

"Make sure you eat it all up!" exclaimed Nene cheerfully.

"Leaves, huh?" grumbled Motoharu as he looked at the warm pot.

"Delicious ukogi leaves," replied Inuchiyo from her side of the lunch table. "There's more if you want."

The young Japanese man picked at his food. "Are you referring to the hedge outside? Wouldn't it be bothersome if we ate the whole hedge and gave a clear line of sight between my house and the one next door? The last thing I want is to cause any misunderstandings and get accused of peeking or something."

Inuchiyo placed her bowl down before scooping a second helping. "That won't be a problem. Next door is my house."

'I thought she was a close friend of Nobuna's. Why isn't she at the main castle? Maybe Nobuna is trying not to play favouritism but still, Inuchiyo's skills in the spear should buy her enough standing to justify staying at the castle.'

While Motoharu was deep in thought, Nene scooped some leaves into his bowl. "Here you go!"

"Ugh… how did things get to the point where leaves are the main course of a meal?" He took a bite and found that the taste wasn't bad. "Hey, these are pretty good! Did you use some seasoning or add something to the broth?"

"That's s-e-c-r-e-t!" Nene stirred the pot a little more. "Eat them all up and you'll be sure to get a promotion! The recipe's been passed down in these barracks for generations!"

"In other words, the only way to get real food is to be promoted." Motoharu blew on his bowl to cool down the broth before taking a sip.

"Ukogi leaves are enough," retorted Inuchiyo in that quiet voice of hers.

"Actually, what a young girl like you needs is a proper diet with all the nutrients to grow properly. Take Shibata-san for example. As a senior officer in the military, her job consists of a lot of physically demanding tasks so she has to stay properly fit to do that job. Part of maintaining that shape is getting the right amount of calories," lectured Motoharu.

"Breasts are just for decoration."

The young man's left eye twitched upon hearing Inuchiyo's retort. "I don't recall mentioning anything about breasts during my speech."

"You were saying things about maintaining shape."

Motoharu was about to get a response out but was interrupted by the arrival of Shibata Katsuie at the front porch. As she was off duty, her armour had been removed, leaving only some simple blue civilian clothing. "Saru, please come with me."

While Nene stayed behind to do the dishes and clean up, Motoharu and Shibata went on ahead and found themselves in the middle of a busy market. With the warm weather, Motoharu left his jacket and tie at home and carried only a few essentials with him in his pants pocket such as his Driver and Lockseeds. The new market system has made the trade of goods easier, bringing more prosperity around. It was only a few minutes into the trip that Shibata noticed they had a tagalong.

"Inuchiyo, why are you following us?"

"I can't?" The small girl took that piece of information and came to the likely conclusion on the reason behind Shibata's behaviour. "Shibata's having a tryst with him?"

"I really wonder how you came up with that deduction," grumbled Motoharu while Shibata's face went red.

Inuchiyo simply pointed a finger against Shibata's giant breasts. "You wanted to have fun with this fat. Remember the time at the castle when she gave you a close look?"

"Breasts aren't fat! I would actually say that fatty tissue isn't a large component when it comes to the mammary gland." Upon seeing the smaller girl's face get confused at his vocabulary, Motoharu was about to try and simplify his explanation when a young boy's voice interrupted him.

"So… this is my sister's monkey? I never thought I would see this." The boy had blonde hair and a green tunic, the same green colour as Nobuna's own top. There was a distinct resemblance between him and the warlord Motoharu came to know. Surrounding the boy were various young girls, all wearing the same outfit. They seemed to be looking after him such as carrying snacks and fanning him around.

Motoharu adjusted his glasses to get a better look. 'So this is Nobuna's younger brother. Oda Nobukatsu if memory serves me correctly. If Nobuna hadn't been born, he would be head of the Oda family.'

"But maybe a monkey is a good match for my stupid and boorish sister," said the young boy without missing a beat.

"You're calling your older sister a boor?" asked Motoharu in a cool tone.

Nobukatsu grabbed another piece of rice jelly from his attendant. "You don't know anything. Like what my sister did at Father's funeral… if I just leave things to her, Owari will be ruined."

"Then what about you? What will you do with Owari? What is your ambition for the country?"

"I'll use a national campaign to get everyone to eat rice jelly!" The younger Oda held up his snack stick for emphasis.

Motoharu snorted. "Just the type of idea expected from a child. Try again."

"I take it back! I'll destroy the Imagawa and Saitou and… then bring all the cute girls back to Owari!"

"An alliance with Saitou Dousan is already in place. And the Imagawa problem is already being worked on." The older Japanese male sighed. "Do you really know what you're talking about?"

The younger boy struggled to answer the question before switching the subject. "In any case, my sister is a fool. An embarrassment to the clan! Even Mother hated her since she was a child, never speaking to her. Violent, selfish and always friendly with barbarians. All she talked about was rifles and conquest. I can see why Mother didn't like her and said I should have been the one to succeed the clan."

"I see how it is." Nobukatsu looked like to see a cold look on Motoharu's face. "Essentially, you're willing to be a puppet for your Mother's wishes. Just spewing out whatever she tells you and letting her mold your future instead of speaking from your own heart. Wake up, break the chains of destiny already and be a real man for a change."

"Hey, I'm a real man! I got all these ladies around me!"

"And what do they know of the real you? Do they know what comforts you the most? What scares you the most? Your dream for the future?" After a period of silence in which none of his attendants responded, Motoharu sighed. "I thought so. Good day, Nobukatsu-san."

* * *

"Nobukatsu's making another fuss again. He's said that Saru insulted him and demands his head," reported Niwa in the main chamber. "If you refuse, he'll start another rebellion."

"He always does." Nobuna idly tapped her fingers on the hilt of her katana.

"So… are we cutting off Saru's head?" asked Shibata from her spot. "I mean, if Nobukatsu-sama rebels, I will have no choice but to fight Nobuna-sama."

"Don't even think about drawing your sword," warned Nobuna in a dangerous tone.

"The issue here is that he can interpret the remarks made to him as an insult because they were delivered from a foot soldier. If they were delivered from a general instead, we can interpret that as simply strong constructive criticism."

Nobuna's features perked up at Niwa's suggestion. "From foot soldier to general in one step?"

"If he can perform one deed to truly earn that title…" Niwa left it off there for Nobuna to fill in the blanks.

It took her a moment to come up with the task for Motoharu to complete. "Saru, you will use 3000 kan to bring me 8000 koku worth of rice in one week. If you can't accomplish this, you'll lose your head."

Niwa looked a bit alarmed at that task. "But at Owari's market prices, he would only be able to buy 4000 koku."

"Niwa-san, I appreciate your concern but it won't be a problem," replied Motoharu from his spot. "Is there anything else you require from me, Nobuna-sama?"

"No, you're dismissed. Just stop by the treasury to pick up the money before you depart."

* * *

Back at his home, Motoharu studied a map of the surrounding area while Inuchiyo watched over him. "Hm… I'll have to try and factor in travel time and weather over the next few days."

"Can you really do this? Obtain that much rice?" asked Inuchiyo from her spot.

Before he could reply, Goemon's figure appeared upside down, her feet sticking to the ceiling. "I understand that you need rice. The Kawanami group were originally thieves. Breaking and entering is a sim… a simple task for us."

"I can understand the logic behind that," said Motoharu with a nod. "Stealing rice from the enemy would deplete their resources and lower their morale but there's a possibility it could be traced back to us. I would rather avoid that risk. Besides, since I was raised as an honest business man, I would like to try and keep it that way. What I really need is information right now."

"Information?"

He turned over to Inuchiyo to elaborate. "In regards to the values of goods in other cities. It's all about supply and demand. The more demand there is for a product and the lower the supply; this will result in customers willing to pay higher prices. What we can do is buy goods here at low prices, move to another city and resell them at a higher price. Rinse and repeat until we have enough money raised to purchase the needed rice. So once I have the information on pricing in other towns, I can plan the route accordingly so that we accomplish the task within the allotted time frame."

"Leave the information gathering to us," replied Goemon.

Motoharu nodded. "At current market prices, we'll need 6000 kan to buy that much rice. I'll target for roughly 6500 kan to give a little extra protection."

"Protection from what?"

"Market fluctuation, Inuchiyo. I don't expect any big market shakes within a week so the 500 kan will simply be a buffer cushion. If things stay calm, then we have an extra 500 kan to split among sweetfish and whatever other bonuses you girls would like."

By the sudden amount of glitter that suddenly appeared in both Inuchiyo and Goemon's eyes, he knew they were sold on the idea of helping him.

"Then, I'll take some silk garments."

Motoharu chuckled at Inuchiyo's desire. "How about we figure out the bonus thing after we accomplish our task?"

* * *

Over the next few days, Nobuna tried to occupy herself with a tea ceremony. Of course, her agitated state was not really conducive to making good tea.

"You really need to make the tea more calmly," commented Niwa on the other side.

"It's fine. It's all the same when it's in your stomach," retorted Nobuna as she passed the tea over. "By the way, have you heard anything from Saru?"

"You're worried?"

"I'm just asking!"

Deciding to spare her lady some teasing, Niwa switched the subject. "You've heard that Nobukatsu is preparing for war. What do you intend to do? Will you forgive him again?"

After a brief pause, Nobuna answered. "I'll kill him. He may be my flesh and blood but if I can't unite my own house, then Japan is beyond me. No matter how much Mother begs, I won't give him another chance."

Niwa simply sipped some of the tea Nobuna served her.

"Fifty points."

* * *

Motoharu had been rather surprised at how quickly events had progressed compared to his original timetable. The information provided by Goemon had allowed them to raise the needed funds in only about half the time. With that in mind, he decided to stick with his timetable and use the extra time to raise more money and buy more rice. This ended up allowing the group to purchase 20,000 koku of rice. While a bit overboard, this gave him a bit of extra protection in case he needed to dispose of any spoiled rice.

Now the hard part would be keeping guard of the cargo adequately. The Kawanami group had twenty men who were each competent in combat. With their power and reputation combined with Goemon and Inuchiyo's abilities, bandit groups would certainly think twice before trying to get to the cargo and yet, they have continued running into them somewhat frequently. There seemed to be something off about those bandits that kept popping up. Like they were in some sort of trance or something but he wasn't quite sure. Maybe they were high on some sort of drug commonly used in this era.

So far, the Kawanami group had been more than enough to handle things and the girls, bless their kind souls, were trying to keep him involved from seeing combat and possibly killing someone. They seemed to be aware that the idea of doing someone extreme harm, even in self-defence, unsettled him to a great degree. They must have picked it up on the first attack when Motoharu had clearly hesitated to go for killing or crippling blows.

Which was why they were surprised when Motoharu stood beside them during this latest attack on their cargo. "Sasaki, what are you doing?" asked the alarmed Goemon.

"I appreciate what you're trying to do but I have to face up to this fact if I'm going to continue living here in this world. I have been entrusted with protecting precious dreams and I must be prepared to fight and possibly kill anyone who would threaten it. Even if they are a fellow human being." For this type of job, his Joker Lockseed would be enough.

**JOKER!**

The Lockseed was placed in the Sengoku Driver and secured in place.

**LOCK ON!**

Oddly enough, a different theme song started playing rather than the standard rock tune. Ah, whatever…

"Henshin!" The Cutting Blade cut open the Joker Lockseed which showed an image of a Lost Driver while the lid backside image showed the Joker Memory.

**JOKER ARMS! JOKER, KIRIFUDA, SEI-YA HA!**

The standard blue bodysuit formed before a set of black armour with purple markings formed instead of the standard blood red armour from Blood Orange Arms. His Pulp Eye visor was now a purple colour. His only weapon on him was the Musou Saber but that would be sufficient.

"What… what is this?" asked one of the bandits, who seemed to regain some sense of awareness.

_"This is Joker Arms. Now, bandits… count up your crimes!" _

As he got into action, he wondered where the heck that catch phrase came from.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**

**Not entirely satisfied with this but this chapter was dragging a while (also me spending time at Toryuken 3 cut into writing time). Anyways, please leave a review and let me know where I may have cut things short.**


	5. Imaginary Friend

It is the age of the civil wars. The land is divided by powerful warlords, who constantly fight each other. Any internal power struggle is an invitation for your neighbors to attack. So it is decided that the firstborn child, regardless of gender, would become the head of the family. The result of this was the birth of the Princess Generals.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing about Ambition of Oda Nobuna or Kamen Rider. The only thing I own here is my OC.**

**Fifth Slice: Imaginary Friend**

A quick assessment led Motoharu to conclude that this group of bandits could be considered stronger than the average bandit group. They had a good group size of about forty men, half of which were big and bulky while the other half seemed to possess some form of weapons training. Their gear wasn't top of the line but certainly adequate for their purposes.

Inuchiyo and Goemon would handle the smaller men by themselves and they had enough speed and skill to handle those opponents. That meant the bulky men would be left to Motoharu and the remainder of the Kawanami group which was fine by him.

Speaking of bulky, the one in front of him merely chuckled. "So I get to fight some weirdo in grasshopper armour? I'll squash you like a bug!"

The armoured Rider didn't bother with a retort as he evaded his opponent's heavy strikes and waited for his chance to counter attack. Once he spotted his opening, he drove his left fist into the man's gut. The resulting pressure would have caused a normal man to collapse from the pain but the bigger man merely grunted in discomfort before shoving Motoharu away hard with his large palm.

"Okay… so that wasn't sufficient." Motoharu flicked his left wrist to get the stiffness out of it before his right hand moved to his belt. "How about this?"

**RIDER PUNCH AU LAIT!**

With his left fist now strengthened by the Lockseed, he tried his punch attack again in the same location. This time, the larger man was sent flying back almost two feet. 'Good, he's neutralized.' A quick check of his allies showed that they were cleaning things up fine.

"… I ain't done yet…" Motoharu turned back in surprise to see the large man get up again.

'He's recovered from a Rider Punch?! Wait a sec…' There was something definitely off about that guy by the way he moved. It seemed that some sort of strange energy was allowing him to continue standing and for a second, his eyes spotted some colourful markings faintly showing up on the man's skin before fading away. 'Is it possible he's possessed by a demon?'

That would make sense. Goemon had demonstrated inhuman abilities herself due to her shinobi training and Nobuna had asked him about being an onmyoji earlier so the idea of demonic spirits and onis lurking in this era wasn't too farfetched.

Whatever the case is, that big guy was still a danger and he needed to be put down permanently. Motoharu concentrated on drawing his Musou Saber and attached the Joker Lockseed to it.

**LOCK ON! 1, 10, 100, 1000!**

A brief prayer for the man ran through the Rider's head. 'May you be freed from this nightmare.'

**HARD BOILED CHARGE!**

Blue light surrounded the blade of the Musou Saber before Motoharu thrust the weapon through the man's chest. Not wanting to hear the dying man curse one last time close to his helmet, he removed his sword and stepped back to see the corpse fall to the ground and remain lying still.

"Sasaki?"

He could have that mental breakdown later. Right now, there were things to attend to. "Goemon, damage report."

The small ninja noticed his efforts to remain in control. "Three men have minor injuries. No damage to the rice carts."

"Do we have any enemies that are still alive?"

"Alive?" Inuchiyo looked puzzled.

"Goemon, you said that the route we're taking is known only to shinobi and yet, we've run into bandit groups on a frequent basis. Why is that? For that matter, who else knows about our mission and would benefit from us not being able to complete this task? We need answers."

Goemon realized where he was heading. "I will check for any enemy survivors and interrogate them."

While she left to check for survivors, Motoharu released the armour and fell to his hands and knees, trembling. The adrenaline in his system was replaced by a sensation of exhaustion and nausea. No words could come to his mouth to express what he was feeling right now.

He then felt a body lean close to him and from the fact that his eyes could see bangs out of blue hair hovering close to his face; he knew that it was Inuchiyo trying to support him in her own way. "… Thank you."

That's right. He did this to protect them from harm. He'll get through this. "There's no need for thanks. After all, protecting precious comrades is what a true Kamen Rider does."

The interrogation from Goemon didn't really help matters. The only information the bandit could give was something about the colour red which could mean a lot of things. Motoharu hoped he wasn't dealing with a brainwashed Ninja Red or HurricaneRed or something like that. The only thing they could do was press on as quickly as possible. No time to speculate on who might be suspicious.

* * *

"How did they respond?"

"They have all pledged their co-operation, Yoshitatsu-dono," replied the aide. "When the time comes, they will have their men strike the Viper's army."

The bearded man nodded. "Good… with the aid of the Mino Three, we can remove Father and ensure that Mino Province does not fall in the hands of that foolish princess!"

"Still… the Viper will be a formidable opponent, even with his smaller numbers."

Yoshitatsu looked out to the yard where some of his men were training. "Hmph… as long as my men are well trained, it will be sufficient to smother Father's soldiers."

* * *

The rest of the journey to Owari had gone smoothly. Obviously, whoever had been testing them earlier with those bandit groups decided to back off for now once Motoharu demonstrated that he would use lethal force if faced with no other decision.

While the rice was getting sorted into storage warehouses, the young man paid his employer a visit in the late afternoon just as the sun was setting. The meeting was held in what appeared to be a personal chamber of hers, full of European art, furniture, musical instruments and other trinkets. He gave his report on the journey, leaving little out. "Good work on the rice, Saru. And you've raised a good point about the possibility of spies in the castle. I'll have to think of a way to flush them out."

"Or you could use code words and signals, Nobuna-sama." The warlord was lazily spinning around a globe.

"Signals, huh?"

Motoharu nodded. "Of course. There's a whole division in the United States army dedicated to signal codes."

Nobuna grew puzzled. "United States…?"

He stood up and spun the globe around before finally stopping on a large landmass. "This country. Right now, I believe the Spanish are exploring that area and setting up colonies but in my time, the country is independent and essentially a strong superpower."

"Dearu ka. Then what about Japan? And the barbarians?"

She was in that hyper curious state again, just like when she nearly drained his entire Apple iPhone battery dry after he showed it to her back at the temple. "Japan's over here, a tiny island country. In my time, our specialty is exportation of advanced technology which is what makes Japan a valued member of the international community. As for those barbarians, they would likely come from Europe…" He spun the globe again before stopping at an area. "Spain, Portugal and England would be sending out exploration ships at this point looking to trade and spread their religious beliefs."

Her curiosity died off a bit upon his mention of the barbarians. "I'm certain they will invade someday so we have to work hard and build a country that can stand up to them as soon as possible. Saru… do you think I'm a fool? Is what I'm saying strange?"

Motoharu smiled at her. "No, you're just far ahead of the others. The people who laugh at you don't understand. They don't see how special you are so don't worry about it."

The blonde warlord's face turned red briefly before she smiled herself. "You said the same thing, huh?"

"As who?"

"Someone I care about deeply and who told me about the world." Nobuna sported a mischievous grin. "Are you a little jealous?"

Motoharu shrugged. "Not really. I would have liked to meet this person."

Her little grin turned into a frown as she had been hoping to get a little rise out of him but he remained the same as ever. Before she could try anything else, Niwa entered the room in somewhat of a panicked state. "Princess! It's a disaster! Nobukatsu-sama has rebelled and he's raised an army at Suemori Castle!"

Goemon appeared right next to Niwa. "I also confirmed that he was the one who tried to deway us!"

"That answers a few things," muttered Motoharu as he absorbed the information. "He must have found out about the mission in the first place by asking Katsuie the right questions. Then it was just a matter of using his own resources to hire trackers to keep an eye on our movements and scores of bandits to interfere. Or perhaps he had some other source of aid…?"

"Since the bandits failed, he's raised his own army," concluded Goemon.

"Sakuma Nobunori-dono and Hayashi Michikatsu-dono have barricaded themselves inside the fort with Nobukatsu-sama. As has Katsuie."

Nobuna's features hardened after hearing Niwa's report. "We'll attack Suemori Castle."

"Nobukatsu-sama is likely being influenced by Sakuma-dono and Hayashi-dono," replied the tactician. "Any disciplinary action should be mainly confined to them."

"It doesn't matter. We can't have a power struggle right now and if the Imagawa gets wind of this, they'll attack for sure! Our only hope is to recapture the castle!"

The situation was escalating and if Motoharu didn't try something soon, there would be many meaningless deaths on that day. Right now, the problem lay with those advisors influencing the kid and the kid's lack of awareness in regards to how this world worked. He needed a seriously big scare to set him straight. "Nobuna-sama, I think I have an idea on how to handle this."

The following morning, 1,200 of Nobuna's men surrounded the castle about half an hour before sunrise. Nobukatsu had seen the many yellow banners outside the castle walls from his viewpoint and felt quite nervous. "C-can we really do this?"

"Katsuie-dono is a loyal and mighty general. She will not fail," answered one of his advisors.

"We have incoming! There's something coming from the sky heading towards us!" shouted a watchman.

"Archers, ready!" By the time the archers responded to Katsuie, the object landed inside the courtyard, creating a huge cloud of dust all around. When it cleared, the figure of Bujin Gaim was revealed to all which caused a great deal of unsettlement among the ground troops. He had Daidaimaru in his right hand while the Musou Saber stayed sheathed for now.

"Saru, what are you doing here?" asked Katsuie.

_"I told you before at Shoutokuji Temple, Shibata-san. I'm the cold steel that will carve a path to the future. If Nobukatsu-san continues to obstruct Nobuna-sama's dream, then I will have no choice but to cut him down,"_ replied the armoured warrior in a cold tone.

"By yourself?"

His head tilted slightly to address the soldier who spoke up. _"Just me alone is more than enough for an army filled with doubt."_

Katsuie knew that he spoke only the truth. If that armour of his could allow him to leap over the castle wall so easily, then his strength would also likely be higher than that of normal men. In addition, the soldiers here in the castle did not seem as confident in their leader compared to the soldiers who fought under Nobuna. Still, her loyalty to Nobukatsu demanded that she answer Saru's challenge.

"I… I serve Nobukatsu-sama! I swear that I will stop you!" Katsuie steered her horse to face Bujin Gaim and prepared her halberd.

_"I do believe I heard a pause in your speech there, Shibata-san. That suggests that you hold doubt in your heart as well. But if you wish to test your resolve…"_ Bujin Gaim brought up his left hand and beckoned her to attack. _"By all means, come and try!"_

* * *

High above in a tree, Goemon observed the skirmish between her sworn master and Shibata Katsuie. He had been avoiding her charges fairly easily since her movements were somewhat predictable thanks to an unclear state of mind.

'Wait for his signal…'

The little duel between the busty general and Bujin Gaim continued for another few minutes until he finally made a counterattack, knocking her off the horse and sending the halberd flying into the air to land right in his open left hand.

'There it is!'

Time to move and get Nobuna's men to begin their part of her master's plan.

* * *

_"I believe this is my win, Shibata-san."_ Bujin Gaim stuck the halberd into the ground before turning to the rest of the assembled soldiers. _"Is there anyone else who wants to defend their lord's honour and challenge me?"_

By seeing Katsuie defeated, the morale of these men has fallen and nobody dared to step up to the plate. Now for the last push and Goemon should be getting everything in place soon.

"No way… everyone's abandoning me?" Nobukatsu turned to his advisors but they seemed as shaken as him. Eventually, they spoke what was on their mind.

"It's futile. We cannot gain victory here against Nobuna-sama's monkey."

"Nobukatsu-sama, we must put our heads together and beg forgiveness from Nobuna-sama."

"Even you as well…" The boy's eyes were now open and could now see what type of men had surrounded him.

_"Nobukatsu-san, now you see the difference between yourself and your sister. While the men under you stumble around lost in the dark…"_ Bujin Gaim waited as the chant from outside the castle walls amplified.

**"NOBUNA! NOBUNA! NOBUNA!"**

He let that sink in before he continued making his point. _"The men under Nobuna are guided by her unyielding spirit and the pursuit of her dream."_

"The dream of conquest?"

_"It's more than conquest, Nobukatsu-san. All the men that serve under her know that there's something more enticing for them to see once Japan is unified. They yearn to see what lies on the other side of the sea and what lies behind that great mountain. It's because of the dream that they will follow her to their dying breath. Tell me, can any of your men say they feel the same when they see you?"_

"…" The child didn't know what to say at this point.

_"As expected."_ One hand went to his belt and tapped the Cutting Blade twice.

**BLOOD ORANGE AU LAIT!**

The blood red Daidaimaru was now powered up and ready to go. _"May you have better fortune in your next life."_

"HHUURRAAAAGGHH!" Before Bujin Gaim could swing his attack, his eyes saw a small golden shape streak towards him and strike his chest armour, causing sparks to fly. He stumbled back a little before firmly planting his feet down to regain stability.

_"Finally… took long enough to draw you out, Mr. Mystery Helper."_ The small golden shape turned out to be a small animated bat of sorts with giant red eyes, fangs and a green gemstone in the forehead. _"… seriously, a small toy bat? I guess that would be appropriate for a kid to have an imaginary friend come to life."_

_**"KIVAT IKUZE!"**_

The bat suddenly flipped upside down and became part of a belt that appeared before forming a body which wore a black jump suit, red chest armour and gloves, a silver 'cowl' and a silver leg gauntlet covered by chains on the right shin. The helmet had a silver mouth guard and pair of huge yellow bat like eyes.

"Kamen Rider Bujin Kiva! Time for your extinction!"

Beneath his helmet, Motoharu's eyes widened. 'Ooh… kay. This might be a bit more complicated.'

**TO BE CONTINUED...**

**I did originally thought about OOO being the one to serve Nobukatsu but Kiva has some further benefits down the road, hence why he's in there. I'm also leaving you viewers with 2 questions:**

**1. Would you prefer to see Motoharu continue fighting with limited Lockseeds or should he get a power up of sorts (Lockseeds that are not part of the Bujin Rider collection)?**

**2. If you prefer him to get a power up, what Lockseeds should he get?**


	6. Net Worth

It is the age of the civil wars. The land is divided by powerful warlords, who constantly fight each other. Any internal power struggle is an invitation for your neighbors to attack. So it is decided that the firstborn child, regardless of gender, would become the head of the family. The result of this was the birth of the Princess Generals.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing about Ambition of Oda Nobuna or Kamen Rider. The only thing I own here is my OC.**

**Sixth Slice: Net Worth**

'So this is Bujin Kiva? I guess his armour design was based on Count Dracula or something,' thought Motoharu to himself. The vampire element did make sense of sorts. The small size of Kivat allowed him to trail anyone without being spotted easily. The bandit mentioning red probably referred to Kivat's red eyes. And hypnotism along with vampiric blood transfusions to enhance a person's strength is common in vampire stories he remembered.

Did Bujin Kiva also have traditional vampire weaknesses like holy items and the sun? Honestly, Bujin Gaim had his doubts since this is supposedly a heroic character from some other series and would likely not have that obvious a weakness. He'll have to see when the sun rises.

Right now, he needs to put a plan together on the fly on how to fight this new enemy. Maybe he can get Bujin Kiva riled up and force him to make mistakes. _"To think someone like you would be aiding that boy. Tell me, what type of rewards were you expecting for your service? Or did you merely want him in charge of the clan so you can use him as you see fit?"_

Bujin Kiva's yellow optics glowed, reflecting the fury in his voice. "Don't lump me in with those other human slime balls! They only had their self-interests in mind, wanting to see Nobukatsu as the head so they could improve their own standing in the Oda clan!"

'Looks like I touched a nerve. Let's keep prodding a bit.' Bujin Gaim kept his charged weapon ready in case the other Rider tried something. _"That doesn't really answer my question though."_

"What I'm doing is protecting the boy's smile with minimum bloodshed. If you were a true Rider, you would have known that from the start," replied Bujin Kiva, pointing a finger at Bujin Gaim for emphasis.

That explained the delay tactics with those bandits. Good to have one mystery solved_. "The problem I have is that the smile he wears is not genuine. It's the result of being surrounded by self-centered people. The smile has no worth and by extension, one can say that Nobukatsu-san has no worth."_

"You can't just slap a damn price tag on a young life!" growled the other Rider.

"_I'm not the one slapping a price tag on anything. It's the current reality that forces those in power to make the tough choices,"_ chided Bujin Gaim. _"Like it or not, this country and the world has a finite amount of resources to sustain each human life. Trade-offs must be made and the value of lives must be evaluated by those who are in a high position like Nobuna-sama. So one should learn critical life lessons and apply them appropriately to raise their value in the eyes of others. But more importantly, that drive to learn should derive from the person's own will to improve!"_

"My own will?" asked Nobukatsu.

"_That's right. And when the Death God inevitably comes to claim a soul, that person can look it straight in the eye without shame, knowing that they did all they could in life to improve themselves and raise their own net worth."_ Motoharu paused for a moment to let some of this sink in_. "As he is now, Nobukatsu-san's life has minimal value. But I intend to change that."_

"By making him a sacrifice and sending a message to his sister's enemies?! Like I'll let you!" Bujin Kiva's left hand reached to the left side of his belt which held some objects that resembled whistles. With one swift motion, he grabbed the one which had a purple colour. "Know that you brought this extinction on yourself!"

"_You're not getting it, dumbass!"_ shouted the Blood Orange warrior in frustration.

Bujin Kiva's only response was to bring the purple object to his belt and insert it into the bat buckle's mouth. _**"DOGGA HAMMER!"**_

* * *

"**NOBUNA! NOBUNA! NOBUNA!"**

"Ah, this is kinda embarrassing," muttered the blonde warlord on top of her horse while the men around her chanted her name in pride.

"It is the plan that will lead to the path of least bloodshed," replied Niwa at her side. "It's a good plan from Saru, demoralizing your brother's army."

"Maa… I guess."

Niwa flipped open her fan to hide her teasing smile. "You're just disappointed that Saru's not here chanting your name as well."

In an instant, Nobuna's face went as red as the cape she wore. "T-that's silly! Don't say stuff like that, Machiyo!"

The tactician didn't have time for any further teasing as everyone all felt a brief tremor. Even the army stopped chanting their commander's name in confusion. "What was that?"

"It came from inside the castle!" reported Goemon, her shinobi senses sharp as ever.

"But Saru already settled everything, right?!" Nobuna was cut off when she heard the sound of something heavy colliding with armour before being treated to the sight of Bujin Gaim flying in the distance from the castle and deep into the woods.

"_CRAAAAAAPPPP!"_

The flying Rider's curse was cut off by a wolf howl coming from inside the castle accompanied with a cry of _**"GARURU SABER!"**_

"You won't escape!" Another armoured figure leapt from the castle courtyard. His appearance had changed and this time, the left arm was clad in blue armour, the optics were blue as well and his right arm wielding a jagged sword. With inhuman speed, he began his pursuit of Motoharu.

"That monkey…!" Nobuna was about to direct her horse to begin chasing after the armoured man when she saw the gates of the castle open and a single horse carrying Nobukatsu and Katsuie emerged.

"Nobuna-sama." Katsuie did bow her head briefly in respect. "It is my fault that this happened. By not restraining Nobukatsu-sama earlier, I have failed as minister. Please take my life and forgive him."

"Riku, if I lose you, how am I supposed to fight the Imagawa?" Nobuna's eyes drifted towards her younger sibling before she slowly drew her sword.

"You're really going through with this, Nobuna-sama?" asked Niwa from the side.

"I said it before, Machiyo. I won't give him another chance. This time, he dies." Nobuna gripped the hilt of her katana tightly.

"Nee-san… no, Aneue," began Nobukatsu, surprising everyone around him greatly. "Please wait a moment."

"Why? So I could hear you beg for your life?"

"That's wrong. What I want to finish learning the lesson that Saru had been trying to teach me back at the castle," answered the young boy.

Nobuna's grip her sword briefly loosened in surprise at this new maturity. "W-what?"

There was a rare sense of determination in her sibling's eyes. "At that time, I saw what type of life I had been living. I don't want that. That's why I want to study under Saru and find my own will to improve. Even if it's just one lesson, I can at least take it to the next life if you decide to have my head."

"Nobukatsu-sama…" Katsuie was pleased to see the young boy mature but at this point, it would be for naught as Nobuna-sama seemed ready to take his life.

Eventually, the warlord lowered her katana. "It's Motoharu."

"Eh?"

"His full name. It's Sasaki Motoharu." It was a name she made an effort to remember as a small act of compensation for how she drained the life out of the red trinket back at the temple. "You won't be allowed to call him Saru unless he permits it. And you shall address him properly as your teacher, got it?"

"I understand," replied Nobukatsu.

"Princess, what have you decided?" asked Niwa, knowing that there was more behind this act of benevolence.

"Nobukatsu, I will stay my hand for the time being. Long enough so you can complete your studies under him. At the next sunset, you will come see me to discuss your self-development plan and what role you will be playing in the household."

The boy smiled happily before bowing in gratitude. "Thank you, Aneue! Katsuie, let's go."

"Yes, my lord!" The busty general bowed as well before her horse galloped away to the forest where both armoured warriors were supposed to be located.

"Machiyo, can I leave clean up here to you?" asked Nobuna as she sheathed her katana. "I'm going to find Saru and get more info on that other armoured fighter."

"Leave it to me."

"Thank you. I hope the cuckoo can sing this time." With that, the blonde warlord directed her horse to follow her brother and Katsuie.

'This plan of Saru's… not only did it make Nobukatsu-sama grow up a bit but it allowed Nobuna-sama to spare her sibling without losing face or being seen as weak.' Niwa smiled once before closing her fan.

"Ninety points."

* * *

The forest was really dense with a lot of trees. That also meant a lot of good ambush spots and not exactly a lot of room to easily move around in. Bujin Kiva's sword form had not been ideal for this type of combat environment and with the limited open space; Bujin Gaim had been able to control the flow of battle in the straight sword fight. That was until Bujin Kiva took out a green whistle and brought it to the bat's mouth. _**"BASSHAA MAGNUM!"**_

The optics changed colour from blue to green for both the bat on the buckle and Bujin Kiva's helmet itself. The chest armour along with the right arm turned green and the other Rider got armed with a green looking pistol. A second later after the transformation occurred, a few rapid shots of high pressure water forced Bujin Gaim to take cover. _"Bringing a gun to a swordfight… you're really pulling out the stops!"_

"I told you before that I won't let you escape!"

Bujin Gaim was forced to move further back for better cover as Bujin Kiva sent another volley of shots his way. 'Che… how am I going to do this? I don't think my skills are advanced enough to the point of deflecting the shots with my blades!'

As he took a moment to catch his breath, he heard a familiar dual voice address him in his mind. _**"Looks like you're in a bit of a bind, Lord-sama."**_

In the meantime, Bujin Kiva had switched strategy a bit as he fired some shots on surrounding forestry to send debris coming down on Bujin Gaim's area in an attempt to force him out. So far, Motoharu continued to weather the storm by not staying in one spot too long. _"Kinda busy here! Is it that important?" _

"_**Well, we would think that allowing you to access more of our power is rather important. After all, you have been working hard and are taking the right steps,"**_ replied Bujin Double.

"_Huh?" _

"_**Look at your Lockseed."**_ Bujin Gaim reached to the right side where his Joker Lockseed had been stored. Eventually, he saw the right part of the Rider's face and the Lockseed body change colour from black to green_**. "Consider your probation completed."**_

"_You have real good timing. Let's see if you can even the odds a bit,"_ muttered Motoharu as he pressed the unlock mechanism.

**DOUBLE!**

Bujin Gaim quickly swapped in the new Double Lockseed and put it into place on his buckle.

**LOCK ON!**

One tap of the Cutting Blade later caused his armour to swap out while the same guitar riff played in the background. This time, the Pulp Eye had two colours, the right side green and the left side purple. The chest armour also had that same feature with the right side being predominantly green and the left side black.

**DOUBLE ARMS! CYCLONE, JOKER, HA-HA-HA!**

Immediately, a blue firearm appeared in the right hand of Motoharu. 'A firearm…?'

"_**This is the Trigger Magnum. With this, you can counter the Basshaa Magnum's blasts,"**_ explained Bujin Double.

'Right.' This was going to be weird. He had no firearms training whatsoever and he doubted that he could handle firing the weapon and handling the recoil. Still, this wasn't a typical firearm so maybe he wouldn't have to worry about the issues when it came to real guns. 'Here we go!'

Motoharu stepped out of his hiding spot and fired a few shots of his own to force his enemy to back off for a second and reassess the situation. "Joker Arms…? No, that's not it…"

Bujin Gaim didn't give his enemy another moment to think as he hurled his Musou Saber forward like a javelin and began running towards his opponent at the same time. With only a split second to react, Bujin Kiva opted to jump in the air while readying a shot with his magnum. But as he fired the first shot, Motoharu slid forward like a baseball player feet first. The blasts from the Basshaa Magnum missed his moving head by inches while one hand went to his Cutting Blade to tap it once.

**MAXIMUM DRIVE!**

With his Trigger Magnum charged, he pointed it upwards and fired it directly at the airborne Bujin Kiva, sending him tumbling to the ground. Once he saw his shot connect, Motoharu got up to keep his weapon aimed at the enemy. _"Now are you going to listen to what I have in mind for Nobukatsu-san or am I going to have to beat it into you?"_

"I'm not done yet!" As soon as those words left Bujin Kiva, Motoharu heard the sound of water and saw that his feet were submerged in a shallow pool that covered quite a large area. Bujin Kiva took advantage of this pause to 'skate' away to safety so he could regroup.

'Dammit!' Bujin Gaim quickly grabbed his Musou Saber stuck in a tree and ran to catch up in time to hear the bat buckle announce a new form.

"_**GARURU SABER! AND DOGGA HAMMER!"**_

Bujin Kiva's form shifted again. The optics returned to their yellow colour while the chest armour turned purple. The left arm was covered in blue armour while the right arm was covered in green. In a flash, Bujin Kiva whipped out a big purple hammer, the same one that had hit Motoharu before. "Prepare yourself!"

"Kiva, stop!" The voice of Nobukatsu was enough to stop the fight. "That's enough!"

Bujin Kiva saw a pair of horses making their way to them. One of them carried Katsuie and Nobukatsu while the other carried Nobuna. "Nobukatsu… is riding beside his sister? Why?"

"We've come to an arrangement. There's no need to continue fighting," announced Nobuna.

Silence reigned for a few moments before Bujin Kiva finally lowered his weapon, indicating that he was ready to listen. "Explain."

"Nobukatsu-sama has been really affected by Saru's words. They've changed him for the better and he decided that he wishes to continue learning," explained Shibata.

Motoharu already had a feeling where this was going. _"So that means…"_

"I'll be under your care, Sensei!" Nobukatsu bowed from his spot on the horse.

Well, this certainly wasn't that bad of an outcome. "_Very well. Of course, my main duties will be to Nobuna-sama first and to see to whatever she needs me to do."_

"There won't be any problems. I'll make sure you have enough time to teach him properly," assured Nobuna.

That's good to know. Now hopefully, Bujin Kiva would be fine with this. "_So what do you think, Kiva? Can you accept me as Nobukatsu-san's teacher?"_

"… We're not alone." The eye of the Dogga Hammer seemed like it was tracking something. Once it stopped on a specific spot, Bujin Kiva whipped out his Basshaa Magnum and fired a few shots towards the area. "Come on out!"

This forced a previously invisible figure to become visible again and drop to the ground from the tree branches above. He was donned in full armor which consisted of a dark magenta, black and white combination. An 'X' was on his chest and left shoulder. The eye optics were a dark green colour and had a little sinister feel to them while a violet mark was on the forehead of the helmet . A silver buckle was on his waist with a silver case on the side. "That hammer can detect invisibility, huh? I'll keep that in mind for next time."

"Another armoured warrior like Saru?" Nobuna drew her katana in case she needed to fight. "Who are you?"

The new armoured Rider merely dusted his hands a few times. "I'm just a passing through Bujin Rider. Remember that."

That little phrase was more than enough for Bujin Kiva's temper to flare up. "Bujin Decade…!"

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

**Took me a while to get this out and now I feel somewhat satisfied with this. **

**Now to respond to some reviews:**

**Oath: Out of all the things to nitpick, you zoom in on Lockseed sounds? I find that a bit funny. In any case, I'll keep your words in mind for any other Rider Lockseed collected but for the Joker one, the in-universe explanation for the different announcement is because it was a prototype toy in the first place. The feedback from the Toei team would have caused those lines to be re-recorded and inserted for the final product.**

**Toa, Vanishing Raptor: I tried to make Bujin Kiva a hybrid of sorts. He has the heart of a heroic Rider and dislikes shedding blood but his methods in dealing with his enemies can be brutal just like King if he feels that violence is the only option. I hope that came through here.**

**New Universe: Inves and Helheim forest will show up periodically with random Cracks. The Nobuna cast will not be getting Drivers (Sengoku or Genesis) in the near future. The Kurokage Troopers will not be showing up in the near future. Yes, Saru will get one vehicle Lockseed. **

**Please don't forget to check out my other Rider crossover fics. If you want them to come out with more updates faster, write some more reviews for them so I can consider changing priorities. Otherwise, I will be focusing on this story.**


	7. New Acquisitions

It is the age of the civil wars. The land is divided by powerful warlords, who constantly fight each other. Any internal power struggle is an invitation for your neighbors to attack. So it is decided that the firstborn child, regardless of gender, would become the head of the family. The result of this was the birth of the Princess Generals.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing about Ambition of Oda Nobuna or Kamen Rider. The only thing I own here is my OC.**

**Seventh Slice: New Acquisitions**

The way that Bujin Kiva had uttered the new Rider's name did not go unnoticed by Motoharu. _"I take it this guy is bad news?"_

"Not necessarily but he's an extreme wildcard. Not to mention that he's probably the most versatile out of all Bujin Riders. Over the past few days, I've spotted him lurking among several prominent daimyos and Samurai clans. Shiba, Imagawa, Ikenami, Takeda… who knows where his allegiance lies?"

Shibata frowned. "Then… a ronin?"

Nobuna looked alarmed by Bujin Kiva's report about this new Rider. "Imagawa?! Then if he lets her know what's going on…!"

"Calm down, Princess of Owari," began Bujin Decade. "At the very least, I have no ties with Imagawa."

"How can we take your word for it?" challenged the blonde warlord.

"Simple. If I worked for Imagawa, you would already be drowning in your own blood. Not even the power of Bujin Gaim and Bujin Kiva would have been able to stop me from taking your life if I truly desired it." It was a blunt and honest statement.

"Then what are you here for?" asked Nobukatsu.

"I was curious about the one who proclaimed to be walking the path of shadows." Bujin Decade's blank gaze focused in on Bujin Gaim Double Arms who maintained his composure. "So you are the infamous monkey of Oda?"

"_You wanted to see me? Why?"_

"As I said, it's just my curiosity. I wanted to see for myself the type of man you are."

'Yeah, right.' Motoharu knew that Bujin Decade had something else in mind but his posture and tone didn't give away any indication of his real intentions. _"The type of man that I am, huh? And what have you concluded?"_

"You're a man certainly worth keeping an eye on. You're responsible, physically and mentally strong, have access to Rider abilities and can sway people's hearts with the right words. I can see myself making use of you in the future." Just as Bujin Decade said that, two kunai flew over his head to embed themselves in the tree bark. It was obviously a warning shot from Goemon, who had trailed the horses earlier and had hidden herself on another tree branch above.

"If you do anything to put Sasaki in danger, I'll kill you."

He waved his arms in mock fear. "Hoh… I'm super scared. Oi, kitten ninja! Do you have to glare at me like I just stole your precious treasure? That's his shtick anyway so save it for him."

"Cut it out already!" growled Bujin Kiva.

"Well, I've clearly outstayed my welcome here. But before I go…" Bujin Decade reached into his Ride Booker and retrieved an object before tossing it to Bujin Gaim. "Take this."

He caught the small object which looked like a USB Drive; white in colour with a 'C' character on the label that looked like it was drawn from zippers. An end port on the drive looked like it would be able to plug into his Apple iPhone. _"What is this?"_

"_**A modified Gaia Memory?"**_ murmured Bujin Double which echoed throughout Motoharu's head. _**"Interesting."**_

"I guarantee that this'll be of use to you for your future endeavours." With his business done, Bujin Decade slipped a card into his buckle. "See you around."

**ATTACK RIDE: MACH**

Just like that, Bujin Decade retreated from the area in a display of agility and speed.

* * *

Later that day, Nobuna had gone ahead and forgiven the advisors who led Nobukatsu astray but as punishment, their standing in the household got reduced heavily. They would have to start from the bottom again and earn their rank like their predecessors did.

For Nobukatsu himself, he took on a new name: Tsuda Nobusumi. It symbolized his rebirth into a new life with meaning. Legally, Nobukatsu was dead and only the inner court knew that he actually walked among the living. This would reaffirm to the Oda clan's enemies that Oda Nobuna was not one to be trifled with.

Of course, that meant he would need a new wardrobe in different colours. In addition, he would have to shave his head and wear a modified noh wig. He didn't mind this one bit. And he even managed to have a nice heart to heart talk with his sister as she helped him with his hair. Even if he didn't fully understand her vision, he would try to support her anyway he could.

As for Bujin Kiva, he had been entrusted to Motoharu by Nobukatsu. The boy insisted that until he had fully matured and was worthy of being Bujin Kiva's master, Motoharu would be the one the vampiric Bujin Rider answered to. So that meant for the time being, the time displaced Toei Employee had one more Lockseed in his arsenal. Rather than staying in the Lockseed, Bujin Kiva assumed his Kivat Bat form and had sworn not to transform into his Rider form unless in an emergency or given permission by Motoharu. In the event that Motoharu would need to use the Kiva Lockseed, Kivat would return to it.

"All's well that ends well, I guess."

"Motoharu, you probably just jinxed yourself," commented Kivat from his spot on top of a wooden shelf.

"Can it." Motoharu was still left with some questions like how did Bujin Decade use the Mach Jaguar card that belonged to Kamen Rider Blade (at least he was certain it was the Mach Jaguar card) and what was so special about the Gaia Memory he had with him. Bujin Double didn't seem to have any answers. What he did suggest was either try slotting the memory into the Trigger Magnum's slot and see what happens or try plugging it into his nearly dead Apple iPhone since one of the ends could fit into the phone jack.

Since he wasn't in the mood to get back in the armour right away after spending a good chunk of the early morning in it, he decided to plug this into his Apple iPhone. It took a moment for it to register the new addition and begin installing a program while the battery started recharging itself at a rapid rate. 'What the hell…?'

The program finally finished installing itself before starting up automatically. The interface of the program reminded him somewhat of the Undead detection program on Kamen Rider Blade except scaled down appropriately so it would be easy to use on a handheld device. But instead of Undead, it began scanning for something called 'Cracks'. It didn't take long to confirm one was in the area, only four kilometres north of the village compound.

Motoharu didn't like the sound of this. "Goemon."

The small ninja phased into his home in an instant. "Yes?"

"Get the others. Kivat, I'm also going to need you present as well."

* * *

Elsewhere, a small beeping noise emitted from the small purple light on Bujin Decade's forehead. 'He's using the program? Good… after all, I did go through quite some trouble just to put it all together for him.'

His mind turned back to the battle at hand as he blocked some claw strikes from his opponent with his Ride Booker Sword. The enemy didn't really look like a traditional Rider and resembled more of an Oni if anything. He was predominantly in a purple colour with red hands, a silver buckle, a pair of silver bands on his chest and a pair of drumsticks hanging on his waist. A second mini Oni face could be seen on the forehead of the warrior. "_Onore, Dickeido_! Why must you impede me on my search for a worthy master?"

"I did offer to fill that position, Bujin Hibiki. You rejected that idea."

"Because the future around you is uncertain! You have no clear role in this world or a story you can call your own!" countered the Oni Rider.

"Right… and all other Bujin Riders clearly know what role they are to play in this era?" Bujin Decade idly ran a hand up his sword while the wind blew around him, causing the tall grassy leaves to sway. "In any case, I can't really risk having you swear yourself to the wrong master like Asakura. Men like him with Riders at their command would easily destroy the country and the world. And as far as I'm concerned, that right is reserved for me."

Bujin Hibiki took a step back in shock. "You…!"

"Relax. It's only a reserved right and it doesn't necessarily mean that I'll exercise it. Anyways, it's true what you said about me having no clear role in this world. All I know for certain is that this is Bujin Gaim's story. In order to help him complete his tale, I will be whatever I have to be: A Destroyer or A Connector. If I'm going to be effective at my job, I need the proper resources and that includes you."

"_Kihojutsu: Onibi!"_ In an instant, Bujin Hibiki shot flames out of his mouth and set the area in front of him on fire to force Bujin Decade back. While the fire kept his enemy occupied, he could make a run for it.

"Guess there's no choice," muttered the other Rider as his right hand slipped a card into his buckle.

**ATTACK RIDE: ILLUSION**

It didn't long for the four copies of Bujin Decade to catch up with their prey. With each copy able to engage in physical combat, Bujin Hibiki found himself pressed to keep up with the fight. He couldn't even try reaching for his Disk Animals for assistance. Eventually, he found himself kicked back by the genuine Bujin Decade. "Let's finish this up."

In one synchronous movement, all five Bujin Decades slipped a card into their buckles…

**ATTACK RIDE: BLAST**

… before firing relentlessly with their Ride Booker Guns at Bujin Hibiki. He had tried to get his own shooting technique from the drumsticks going but he had been too slow and took a heavy amount of damage. As the copies of Bujin Decade faded away thanks to the card effect running out, the real Bujin Decade stepped forward and saw Bujin Hibiki still standing but quite weakened. "So feel like changing your mind?"

"Don't joke… around!" Bujin Hibiki would give anything to be able to access the Armed Saber at this point. If he had that, perhaps he would have been able to better match Bujin Decade earlier.

"In that case, let me show you something I've been working on lately before you go to sleep. Consider this a big special service!" Bujin Decade took out a small black object before changing his Ride Booker to sword form and sliding the object down the blade so that it would rest against the hilt. "I hope I put this Disk together properly. Really, it's my first try at this."

"A Disk… Animal?"

"Wrong." Bujin Decade spun the black disk around before it lit into flame and enveloped his entire sword. Now he wielded a large red armoured zanbato. The tip of the blade to the mid-section was covered by a golden decoration with the kanji for fire inscribed. _"Mojikara."_

With a single smooth motion, he slipped a brand new card into his buckle.

**ATTACK RIDE: REKKA DAIZANTOU**

The red sword charged up with power before Bujin Decade swung it and released a giant fireball to finish off the weakened Bujin Hibiki. Once the explosion settled down, all that remained of Bujin Hibiki was a single Lockseed, purple in colour with the Rider's face inscribed on the side.

Bujin Decade came over to pick up the Lockseed which then automatically generated a new set of cards based on Bujin Hibiki's powers to add to his arsenal. Along with a Final Form and Final Attack Ride card, there were a few Attack Rides in there as well. 'It looks like the race for Lockseeds is tied up. I have Blade and Hibiki while he has Double and Kiva. So… which one of us will claim the next Bujin Rider?'

* * *

As he had thought, the location of this 'Crack' was close to the site where he had first engaged Bujin Double not long after he came into this world. "According to this, we should be close by. Can you check if there are any people in the area, Goemon?"

"Roger." She leapt away into the woods with the Kawanami Group following her. The sweep was done quickly and they confirmed there were no people so that was one less thing to worry about.

As Motoharu moved according to the directions on his iPhone, he spotted an open doorway to a mysterious strange looking forest along with a monster closeby. The monster he saw had a humanoid shape mainly in black and red colours. It had bat wings hanging from the shoulders of its body along with a pair of ram-like horns at the top of the head.

The program on his iPhone immediately identified it as a Komori Inves. Right now, it was sniffing around the foreign vegetation which came from the Crack and had already entwined itself in the small shrine's structure.

"Oi, Motoharu! Let me have a go at this one! For some reason, seeing this monster reminds me of someone who makes my blood boil!" shouted Kivat while Motoharu felt the Lockseed in his pocket rumble.

Well, if someone wanted to fight this monster, who was he to deny them the chance? He took out the Lockseed which had the image of Kiva's helmet on it. "All right… you're up! Everyone else, get back!"

"_Yosha! Kivat ikuze!"_ The golden bat vanished back into the Lockseed before Motoharu unlocked it while strapping the Sengoku Driver to his waist.

**KIVA!**

The opened Lockseed got inserted into the central buckle.

**LOCK ON!**

"Henshin!" The Cutting Blade was pressed once before the black bodysuit formed over him along with silver shoulder pads, red chest armour and giant yellow lens instead of his usual Pulp visor. Last but not least, the right shin was covered with a silver shin pad and chains.

**KIVA ARMS! KING OF FANGIRE!**

"_This feeling… it's different from using other Lockseeds,"_ commented the newly transformed Rider.

"This is because of the Demonic Power flowing through your body. Normal humans would likely be killed by using it but the Driver is probably protecting you from the side effects," replied Bujin Kiva's voice.

"_Neat. Alright, let's take this monster down!"_ With a swift jump kick, he forced the monster back. _"Burn the shrine down! We can't let any of that foreign vegetation survive here!"_ He didn't know how long the Crack would stay open so he needed to stay close to it so that he could escape back into the normal world and keep the Inves monster back in that forest.

It had been a pain to get the monster pinned down in one spot. Thanks to Goemon's ninja skills though, the monster's escape routes were cut off and stayed within reach of Bujin Gaim's swift attacks with the Musou Saber. 'He's still not going into the portal! Guess I'll have to force it!'

Bujin Gaim pushed the Inves back into the Crack with his own body weight, entering Helheim forest himself. He didn't want to risk having the gateway close while he was still in the alien world himself but making an escape proved to be difficult thanks to the monster having a good grip on his arms. Taking a page from the DragonRanger, he lifted his legs for a quick jump kick to force the monster back before tapping the Cutting Blade once.

**WAKE UP!**

In an instant, it felt like night fell upon the forest with the only source of light coming from the glow of the moon. As Bujin Gaim leapt into the air for a Rider Kick, the guard on his right shin opened to reveal a pair of red bat wings connected to a portion of red armour. "I have passed judgment. For choosing to face my fangs, know eternal death!"

"_Oi, oi… getting a little hammy there, Kiva?"_ Striking the Inves with his powered up right leg sent it straight into a cliff where a bat like logo was inscribed on the rock surface while the monster itself merely exploded. Once he landed on the ground again, the silver shin guard reassembled itself. 'That takes care of…'

He paused when two pieces of fruit hit his helmet, likely fallen from a tree above due to the impact of his colossal Rider Kick. When he picked them up, they changed into Lockseeds. One read 'LS-04' and looked light green in colour and the other one looked predominantly silver in colour with a yellow looking flower in the middle. The code read 'LV-03' at the bottom of that other Lockseed.

'Interesting…' He would have to look into this later but he had to return to his world right now before the Crack closed.

Once he made it through, he had been greeted by Goemon. "There's nothing left of those strange branches."

"_Good work, Goemon. Everyone, thank you."_ He reached out to pat her head affectionately, earning the ire of the other members of the Kawanami Group.

When he had returned to his home, he had been greeted by a rare sight of Shibata Katsuie in a yukata. She had with her a small wrapped box and a jug. "Shibata-san, what brings you here?"

Shibata held out the box. "I bought the Nagoya specialty _'uirou'_ as thanks for today. Be grateful, Saru!"

"I kindly accept your gift." He recalled that _uirou_ is a traditional Japanese steamed cake made of rice flour and sugar. It is chewy, similar to _mochi_, and subtly sweet. This would be a good change of pace compared to eating those leaves for each meal. "Is there something else?"

"Ever since Saru arrived, Nobuna-sama has gotten more cheerful. When her father died, it felt like she would lash out and crush anyone who dared to approach. She didn't open her heart to anyone and she had reminded me of a demon. But when I saw the smile she wore when she spent time earlier with Nobukatsu-sama, I felt ashamed for even thinking of her as a demon earlier. The real fool of Owari is me."

Motoharu tried to reassure the busty general. "Shibata-san, please don't be so hard on yourself."

"Shut up!" She wanted to say what was on her mind while she still had her courage. "I've decided that I will break all of my limits for Nobuna-sama's sake! And I've decided that I will definitely repay my debt to you as the man who protected her smile. So starting tomorrow, I will train you day in and day out! Be sure to have enough stamina to survive my training!"

A somewhat sarcastic "Yay!" escaped his lips. He was certainly not looking forward to exhausting himself from her drills.

"In the meantime, let's celebrate this new beginning with some _sake_!"

"Let's keep it in moderation, okay? We have work tomorrow," replied the young man with a smile.

The small party had been enjoyable with a solid modest feast. Shibata had arranged for some other meats and vegetables to be supplied for the evening and Nene helped with food preparation. Inuchiyo had dived into the _uirou_ and deemed it sufficient enough to clear a majority of Motoharu's sweetfish debt to her. Goemon even brought in some fish for grilling.

The young Japanese man had been careful not to drink too much but the same didn't apply to Katsuie. It wasn't long until she was drunk enough to untie her yukata and attempt to press her bare assets right in front of Motoharu's face. Thank goodness that his faithful shinobi had been on the scene to get things under control. Otherwise, it would have been a seriously awkward morning, followed by Shibata sadistically putting him through heavier drills than the norm.

Night time finally arrived and his four guests already fell asleep at his home. Motoharu himself wasn't too tired yet so he decided for a brief stroll and headed towards the inner citadel to enjoy the sights. But while climbing the hill road, he spotted Nobuna in her sleeping attire. She looked relaxed which was a good sign. "Saru…"

"I take it your day went well."

"Indeed. I even got to share a plate of _uirou_ with my brother. It's been a long time since I had been able to do that." The blonde girl really seemed to be glowing. It was like a big weight had been taken off her mind which was true. The friction between her and her brother no longer existed and he was firmly supporting her in his own way. "Saru, walk with me."

"As you wish."

It wasn't long until he found himself in that same personal chamber again with the globe and the European trinkets. She took a seat close to the globe and idly spun it around for a bit. "This globe is my treasure. I got this during my childhood from a person my father brought along, a missionary of the barbarian nations who came from the port of Tsuda. I learned a lot from him. The fact that Japan is just a tiny island nation on this world; the fact that while fellow Japanese fight one another on this island, science is flourishing in the barbarian nations. They invent many things one after the other like guns. And with their economic and military power, they would devour Japan and make it a colony of theirs, just like how their rulers wanted."

"Ah, that missionary was who you were referring to earlier during our last conversation."

"That's right. While he had been teaching me those things, I started thinking that I want to make Japan one someday and then travel the world with a strong ship fully made of steel to cross the seven seas. I want to see with my own eyes everything on this huge world which the Japanese people haven't seen." She paused for a moment. "He talked in a new language all the time which would have shocked you. I miss hearing that ever since he died."

"I'm sorry about your loss," replied Motoharu.

A lonely smile crossed her lovely features. "For some reason, all the people I love die quickly. First, that missionary who felt like a close uncle and then my father. And now possibly the Viper. Since he promised to hand Mino over to me, the nobles in the area will certainly target him."

"Even if that's the case, I doubt he'll fall so easily to them. Otherwise, he wouldn't have lived to such an old age."

"That's true. By the way, I've been meaning to ask about you coming from the future. How much do you know about my future?"

That was a bit of an unexpected question at this hour but he supposed she would have asked eventually. "I don't know all the specifics. In my history, there's a Warring States Feudal Warlord named Nobunaga that closely resembles you and I happen to know a good deal about him. If anything, I have a general idea about event outcomes and certain battles."

"Dearu ka. You haven't thought about using your future knowledge to control my actions?"

Motoharu pushed his glasses up on his nose. "I said it back at the temple that I didn't grow up in this world and I have no relevant dream here. All I can do is protect your dream of connecting Japan. This is something that only you can do. In terms of my future knowledge, I'll only use it to steer you back to the right path if you start to lose your way. Does that satisfy you?"

"That's fine." She stood up and he could see her body bathed in the moon's light. "Then let's do a ceremony so I can formally recognize you as a trusted general."

He got into a proper seiza form right away. "I suppose we'll do a proper feudal era ceremony."

"I would rather do it the barbarian way. It's cooler and doesn't need sake." Nobuna held out her bare hand. "Kiss my hand and swear loyalty to me."

Knowing how this worked, Motoharu moved position to a kneeling style with one knee like a Knight in front of their Lord before kissing her hand. "As long as I am in this world, I will be yours and work hard to make your dream come true."

"Hey, Saru… even if you don't have a dream in this world, there must be something I can do to reward you properly for your service. Name what you wish and if it's within my power, I will make that wish a reality."

Motoharu stood up from his spot. "Then I would like to build a monument to a man who saved my life in this world. A monument to Kinoshita Toukichirou located in the heart of Owari so that every citizen will see it and know his name."

"That's no problem. But is that seriously all that you desire?" asked Nobuna.

"What else should I ask for? The most beautiful woman in all of Japan to become my wife?"

The warlord's face turned red. "Eeeeehhhh?! W-what are you talking about?! Becoming Saru's wife?! That's…!"

Okay, it seems his joke was being taken too seriously here. "Relax, Nobuna-sama. I was merely kidding."

"D…dearu ka." She began calming down. "Don't joke about something like that or I'll have your head!"

"Understood. Well, it's getting late and we should get some sleep for tomorrow. I bid you good night."

"Good night." As he turned around and left, he completely missed the odd longing look Nobuna had on her face.

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

**That more or less finishes up Nobuna episode 2. I do have some omake ideas lying around like Diend stealing Nobuna's globe or the Crack Gaia Memory's Maximum Drive pulling out something worthy of crack fics (e.g. creating a Sentai team out of the lady warlord characters to become the Sengoku Sentai Daimyoger) but since I wrote a lot for this chapter already, those omakes will have to come at another time. Also, if you guys have any ideas on how to possibly balance out Bujin Decade's powers, I would like to hear it.**


	8. Proposal

It is the age of the civil wars. The land is divided by powerful warlords, who constantly fight each other. Any internal power struggle is an invitation for your neighbors to attack. So it is decided that the firstborn child, regardless of gender, would become the head of the family. The result of this was the birth of the Princess Generals.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing about Ambition of Oda Nobuna or Kamen Rider. The only thing I own here is my OC.**

**Eighth Slice: Proposal**

The next day had been a quiet one for Motoharu in the province of Owari. Goemon had vanished for the whole day while Nene and Inuchiyo simply went about their normal lives in the village compound. He didn't mind the quiet and actually had a day full of interesting discoveries. For starters, Shibata Katsuie had been up and ready to train him despite drinking a lot last evening. She was certainly a strong lady who could hold her liquor for certain. Thankfully, she had assumed the reason for her loosened yukata from last night was due to rolling while sleeping in someone else's house. Otherwise, things could have been a lot worse for his muscles.

He had also taken the time in the afternoon to test out the new Lockseeds a little bit. LV-03 was a Lockseed that released a vehicle that could fly and was equipped with a weapon system. It's essentially a flying motorcycle and considering that he only had an Ordinary Vehicle Class 1 license back in Japan, learning to operate that machine would be tricky. At least it worked like a hover vehicle so he could just treat it as such until he's ready to take to the skies.

LS-04 turned out to be a Melon Lockseed and armed him with a shield of sorts. It reminded him of that shield that belonged to that Captain America character he saw in those Capcom crossover fighting games. On a pleasant note, it even acted similarly to that Shield Boomerang move the character had when he tossed it.

All in all, today had been a good day. He hoped the next day would be just as good but those hopes were dashed when Goemon appeared before him early the next morning and delivered some grave news about Mino and the Viper.

"The Mino nobles are enraged at his proclamation of handing over the province to her."

"Goemon, don't tell me...?"

"The son of Dousan, Saitou Yoshitatsu, has revolted. The nobles have thrown their support behind him." She paused for a moment so that she would not stutter the rest of the report. "Dousan has left Inabayama Castle and is fighting an army that outnumbers him almost ten-to-one at the Nagara River."

"Does that old man intend to die there…?" He would have to cancel his lesson plans with Nobukatsu. Right now, Nobuna and the others needed to hear of this. But as he got up, Goemon grew concerned.

"Where are you going?"

"I have to report this to Nobuna-sama."

"It's best if you don't. Act like you don't know. If you tell her, Owabi will be destroyed." Once again, Goemon's tongue got the better of her.

"I'm not the type of employee who withholds critical information. At the very least, she needs to know and then we'll go from there on how to handle the situation." With that said, he hustled over to the main castle as time was of the essence now.

As expected, the news caused quite a bit of an uproar among the others in the inner circle. There had even been accusations thrown at the small ninja that she was trying to pass along false intelligence to force Nobuna to make a rash move with her army. Motoharu and Inuchiyo defended Goemon though and after some discussion, the consensus was to give her the benefit of the doubt.

Now the next question was what move they should make in light of the news.

"We can't send any reinforcements to him, Princess. Imagawa is watching us closely and they will certainly seize the chance to invade if we move our forces," pointed out Niwa.

"I know that," replied Nobuna in a tense tone. "You don't have to remind me, Machiyo."

"As long as the ties of friendship you have with Dousan-sama do not cloud your judgment-"

"She gets it already," interrupted Motoharu. That tactician needed to give it a rest and back off. This was obviously distressing the blonde warlord and he could tell she wanted to go out to help Dousan. Honestly, anyone with a sharp eye could spot her body language and her forced facial expressions trying to portray an attitude of indifference. Looks like he would have to settle things. "Perhaps-"

"Pardon the interruption…" All heads turned to the female attendant that was kneeling at the entrance. "There is a visitor for you, Nobuna-sama."

It wasn't just any ordinary visitor. The person who had come to see the Owari Princess was none other than the head of the Asai clan, Asai Nagamasa. Defeating the young Daimyo of northern Oumi is a requirement in order to reach the capital. He looked quite handsome with his blue eyes, long blue hair tied in a ponytail and a blue wardrobe fitting of his status.

"So what is it that you want?" asked Nobuna from her spot.

"I've come to remove the cause of your suffering, Nobuna-hime," replied Nagamasa in a charming tone. "The one that distresses you so is Saitou Dousan of Mino Province, correct?"

'He's got good intel. Does he have his own Bujin Rider? If so, which one?' Motoharu was seriously starting to get tired of going into situations with virtually no information whatsoever.

"As things are, he'll die within days. But the Oda cannot act. What I propose is that the Asai and Oda attack the North and South simultaneously to bring the fighting to a swift end. You'll be able to rescue Dousan and with Oumi, Mino and Owari united, even the Imagawa would not be able to stand against us."

Nobuna considered Nagamasa's words. "So an alliance? It sounds really good. Too good for my tastes. What is it that you're really after?"

The other Daimyo simply laughed. "You're quite unlike the stories I've heard. In that case, I shall make my intentions clear…" He shifted positions and held out his right hand. "Oda Nobuna, I've come to make you my wife."

"Y-y-you want to get married?!" Motoharu couldn't believe the ridiculousness of the scenario unfolding in front of him. Oda Nobuna, the Fool of Owari and the gender bent version of Oda Nobunaga… is getting flustered all over a marriage proposal from another daimyo. Considering the way of life in this timeline, she should have learned how to deal with marriage proposals in her position.

'Guess she's still a young maiden at heart.'

"We'll be the most beautiful couple in Japan," continued Nagamasa. "Let us conquer Japan together, Nobuna."

"D-d-does that mean you're in love with me?" Nobuna was desperately trying to get her blushing face under control again.

"No. Political marriages are the way of the world. Love merely gets in the way."

This time, Motoharu couldn't keep his silence. "Even if that makes sense in this era, I find your view on marriage a bit sad, Lord of the Asai clan. You got your heart broken in the past or something?"

Nagamasa merely glanced at the side to the other man. "So you're the infamous Saru."

"It's Sasaki Motoharu of the Oda clan to you. Only my comrades and my Lord can call me Saru," replied the time displaced Japanese man with a hint of frost in his tone. "And you didn't answer my question."

"Hmph… I never would have thought a monkey like you would be a strong advocate in marriage for love." The young daimyo looked rather amused.

"My parents have led busy and fulfilling lives. They planned out their parenthood and when I was born, they were committed and motivated to raising me correctly. I'm happy the way I turned out and I'm grateful for the loving environment I had. So I do happen to know the value of a marriage built on love. And any woman that would actually marry for love and not purely for other purposes like material wealth and political power would have my sincere respect."

Nobuna perked up a bit on hearing that and smiled at her retainer. "Since I want to choose my own husband and marry the person I love, I guess I make your list!"

Motoharu chuckled. "So it seems."

Nagamasa got up and prepared to leave, seeing that the Owari Princess was not going to give an answer right away. "Nobuna-hime, if you refuse the marriage, Dousan will die. Without him in Mino and facing the Imagawa, making an enemy of the Asai will guarantee the Oda's fall. Think over my proposal carefully and let me know of your decision by sunset."

The inner circle had been dismissed for the rest of the day while Nobuna retired to her personal chamber again to dwell on her current dilemmas. Motoharu had wanted to talk to her about heading over to Mino himself to help Dousan but his sense of etiquette overruled that impulse. He also wasn't in the mood to hear Katsuie, Niwa and Inuchiyo argue over what course of action to take in the main hall so he decided to stroll around a bit to clear his head.

By a stroke of odd luck, he spotted Nagamasa who had been doing his own exploration of the area. Not wanting to talk with the other man, Motoharu tried to sneak away but the daimyo called out to him. "Hold it right there, monkey. Answer me why you reinforced the foolish delusions of Nobuna-hime."

"I don't see marrying for love as foolish."

"To chase both love and the unification of Japan is a naïve dream. This era won't allow someone of her position to pursue a woman's happiness. The kind thing to do would be to wake her up from that dream and face reality," replied Nagamasa. "It's something that you retainers should have done earlier."

"Even so, the pursuit of a dream wholeheartedly is a beautiful sight in itself. That's the real Oda Nobuna. That's why I'll keep encouraging her to run down that path. Excuse me." He felt that it would be best not to stick around this man as there was something about him that got under his skin.

* * *

"We're losing badly," grumbled Dousan as Akechi tended to the wounds on his left arm.

"What type of monster attacks his father?!"

"If he had even an ounce of my blood in him, he could have been friends with young Nobuna and found himself a place there." The Viper's thoughts were interrupted by one of his soldiers reporting to him.

"Inoue-dono has perished in battle. Many of our men have deserted and we estimate the enemy numbers to be over 15,000 soldiers."

"Those men don't have a single shred of loyalty!" exclaimed the frustrated Akechi as she finished wrapping her master's wounds.

"Don't say that," chided Dousan gently. "I doubt that any of them truly understood Nobuna's genius."

"There's got to be a way to turn this around!" She was a genius, skilled in warfare and literate too! There was no way she would be defeated like this!

Her musings were then cut short by Dousan calling out to her.

"Mitsuhide, I have a request for you."

* * *

At sunset, the retainers gathered with Nobuna again so she could respond to Nagamasa's proposal. "Before I deliver my decision on this, I would like to hear what my officers have to say on this proposal."

"You would allow your retainers to weigh in on a matter between daimyos?" asked Nagamasa in a surprised tone.

"What's the point in having advisors if they aren't allowed to provide their thoughts?" The Oda warlord nodded to her tactician.

"While this marriage makes strategic sense and sounds logical, human actions are normally driven by emotions," said Niwa. "A loveless marriage would only hinder Nobuna-hime's progress to unify Japan. Zero points."

"If you think I'll allow the Princess to go to a heartless man like you, you have another thing coming!" That was Shibata Katsuie's answer.

"If this were to go through, the Asai would be able to use the Oda as they see fit. This will also likely cause disruptions among the chain of command and army morale which can't be afforded at this point. The costs far outweigh any benefits in this case so I will object to this proposal."

"No more discussions." As always, Inuchiyo was short and straight to the point unlike Motoharu earlier.

With a little smile, Nobuna turned to Nagamasa. "After taking their advice into consideration, I've decided that I will not be marrying you."

Nagamasa's expression hardly changed at the sudden rejection. Instead, a little cold smile crossed his lips. "I hope you don't regret your decision."

Once he left, the entire group let out an entire sigh of relief. "Good riddance," muttered Inuchiyo.

"Now we can get back to our discussion earlier regarding the situation in Mino." Nobuna was about to say something when Motoharu held up a hand so that he could continue speaking. "Let me be clear on this: I perfectly understand that you won't send reinforcements. Just send me, Goemon and my men. We'll extract Dousan from the province and bring him back safely."

"But the enemy forces over there are too much! Almost ten-to-one so that means…" Shibata frowned a bit before turning to Niwa. "A little help on the numbers?"

"At least 12,000 soldiers."

"Shibata-san, you're forgetting a few things. The main mission objective is just to retrieve the Viper. I will be avoiding combat where possible. Even if discovered, we would likely only be engaging in small skirmishes. My men and Goemon have no problems handling larger numbers and I have my Rider armour." Motoharu held up the Sengoku Driver from his pants pocket for emphasis.

"S-Saru… you can't! What if you get ambushed and you don't have time to get your armour on?! What then?"

"Nobuna-sama, please have a little faith in me." Before he could go any further, an attendant announced the arrival of another visitor.

"Akechi Mitsuhide has come from Mino."

Immediately, the group moved over to the open courtyard right at the front gate of the castle to see a few kneeling soldiers, an exhausted Akechi herself along with a norimono containing a person inside. "Where's the Viper? He's with you, right?" asked Nobuna.

She had expected the Viper in the norimono but instead, out stepped a little girl in red robes. Akechi gave a brief introduction. "Dousan-sama's daughter, Mistress Kichou."

"What happened to the Viper?!"

"I have a letter." Akechi produced a small piece of paper and gave it to the Oda warlord who went over it.

While Motoharu wasn't one to peer over one's shoulder, his glasses allowed him to read part of the letter from his position. The overall feel of the letter read more like a will of sorts. Stuff like entrusting his dreams to her and all that. 'As I feared… he's intending to die there.'

"D-Dousan-sama insists that you do not send reinforcements." Even Akechi's composure had cracked, tears streaming down her face.

Nobuna's hands clenched the letter like a lifeline before her trembling voice began to issue an order. "A-all forces…!"

"Nobuna-sama, forgive me!" In an instant, Shibata Katsuie plowed her fist right into her master's abdomen to knock her out and prevent those orders from passing.

"Shibata-san, good work." Motoharu looked over to Niwa and Inuchiyo. "When Nobuna-sama wakes up, make sure she doesn't order the army to march out."

"Then you're going forward with your plan?" asked Niwa.

"You got that right." Without wasting a moment, he placed the Sengoku Driver to his waist and activated the Blood Orange Lockseed. "Henshin!"

**BLOOD ORANGE!**

He then attached it to the Driver and cut it open with the Cutting Blade before the big orange above fell on his head.

**LOCK ON!**

**BLOOD ORANGE ARMS! JA NO MICHI ON STAGE!**

Now that he was suited up, he wouldn't have to worry about safety protection when riding his vehicle. Without wasting a moment, he picked up the vehicle Lockseed and summoned the flying machine, to the astonishment of everyone around him. He honestly wished he felt more comfortable operating this vehicle but he had the basics down from playing around with it earlier. _"Goemon, are you coming?"_

The female shinobi phased in at his side. "Of course. We shall steal the Viper of Mino."

"_Then hop on and let's ride."_

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

**Not as much Rider action here so I'll make it up somewhere else. **


	9. Resignation

It is the age of the civil wars. The land is divided by powerful warlords, who constantly fight each other. Any internal power struggle is an invitation for your neighbors to attack. So it is decided that the firstborn child, regardless of gender, would become the head of the family. The result of this was the birth of the Princess Generals.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing about Ambition of Oda Nobuna or Kamen Rider. The only thing I own here is my OC.**

**Ninth Slice: Resignation**

"Anyone who makes it through the enemy lines alive is to head to my daughter in Owari!" shouted Saitou Dousan as he issued orders to his remaining forces. Right now, they were at the top of a hill just as the sun was close to setting. Once night fell, the darkness would allow for extra camouflage as they move ahead with their charge.

"_Wait, Dousan-san!"_ The old man heard someone call his name and when he turned, he saw the form of Kamen Rider Bujin Gaim along with his faithful shinobi, Hachisuka Goemon approaching his dwindling army from the forest they had passed shortly ago.

"Young man, what are you doing here?"

"_We're taking you back to Owari."_

"I won't go." Dousan didn't care if that young man had that powerful armour with him. This is something he refused to budge on.

"_Why? Do you wish so badly to end your life on your own terms? Go out in a blaze of glory so that your name would be considered legend among samurai? Right now, I don't see what purpose dying here would serve."_ Motoharu fought the urge to sigh in frustration. Honestly, Dousan was just as stubborn as his grandfather.

"You don't understand. My life is all but gone, but Nobuna and you youngsters have many years ahead of you. Compared to me, if even you lose your life here Nobuna-dono will be even more upset. You are her one hope."

Goemon leaned over to whisper in her master's helmet. "We're running out of time."

'In that case, I'm going to need to finish this in less than five minutes.' With that in mind, he turned back to Dousan. _"I'm not going to die here. And neither are you."_

"Listen to this old man. The thing called dreams is something to be shared with someone. Since you're from the future, you can understand her dream." Dousan looked out to the sunset. "A dream only one person has is nothing but ambition. No matter how it's explained to others, the surrounding people will never acknowledge it. Will the land be brightened by dreams or burned by ambition? The choice is in your hands."

Motoharu smirked underneath his helmet as the elder man said a keyword in that little lecture that he could use in his rebuttal. _"Did you forget that I am one who protects the dreams of others? Combined with the fact that you have a place in Nobuna-sama's dream as someone who understands it, this means my duty is getting you to safety."_

"You stubborn…!"

"_Let me share something with you. While Nobuna-sama is certainly a great warlord, there are a few things that prevent her from being as strong as you. Her faults include not being frank with herself and her lack of maturity in certain aspects. And she told me that the people she relied on all left her and died in the end. That sad face is something I do not wish to see again."_

He could see Dousan's jaw tighten and felt he was in a good position to finish closing his pitch. "Even so…"

"_If you can't accept my word as a man or a Kamen Rider…"_ With one motion, he swapped out his Blood Orange Lockseed for his Melon one and secured that one into the buckle before triggering the Cutting Blade.

**MELON!**

**LOCK ON!**

**MELON ARMS! TENKA GOMEN!**

The blood red parts of his armour vanished and got replaced by light green plating with gold accents. His red Pulp Eye visor got replaced by the same light green colour. A shield then appeared on his arm while the Daidaimaru had vanished.

"… _then can you accept my word as one authorized by Divine Providence?"_

"… I guess it can't be helped. I've lost this battle entirely." There was a brief silence before Dousan gave a little amused smile. "That makes it 2-0 for you! Can't you show a little mercy to an old man?"

Motoharu smiled beneath his helmet. _"You can beat me in a few rounds of shogi when everything's settled. How about that?"_

"Throw in a bottle of_ sake_ and you have yourself a deal."

* * *

It was getting close to dinner time. The common people living in the Oumi province were hurrying about to gather vegetables and fish for their evening meal. Lake Biwa contained a great variety of freshwater fish which could be served as a main course meal.

One fisherman was running a bit late due to goofing off with friends earlier. His wife was certainly going to kill him.

"Um… excuse me?"

He was stopped by the sound of a polite young man's voice. When he turned, he saw that man with dirty blonde hair in an oddly combed fashion, a bloodied soldier uniform and a red looking arm that appeared quite inhuman.

"Can you tell me how I can get to Kiyosu? It's the capital of Owari Province and…"

"G-ghost…" The fisherman then fainted, his catch of the day scattered on the dirty road.

"Ah, geez…" This certainly wasn't going well.

"Well, you are wearing the clothes of a man ready to pass to the next world. You shouldn't be surprised to get this type of reaction," chirped another male voice from behind as he phased into view.

In a second, the possessed man recognized the armoured warrior in front of him. "Bujin Decade!"

The passing through Bujin Rider waved casually. "I was hoping we could have a little chat about your future, Kamen Rider Bujin OOO."

"What's there to talk about? I intend to serve the Oda clan and nothing will make me change my mind!" In an instant, the O-Scanner appeared in his right hand while the O-Driver formed on his waist. As the Medals were already present and inserted, all that was required is a single scan. "Henshin!"

**TAKA!**

**TORA!**

**BATTA!**

**TA-TO-BA! TATOBA TA-TO-BA!**

The helmet was mainly black, save for the red faceplate which looked like a hawk with its wings spread out in flight. On the forehead and acting as the hawk's beak was a red crystal and the eyeholes were tinted green. Running from the chin and down the neck was a red line that was connected to the top portion of the image on the chest. The torso armour had rounded shoulders that had yellow lines on them. Yellow lines ran down the arms and into the yellow gauntlets he wore decorated with what looked like folded claws on the forearm. Lastly the legs were minimally covered with segmented green armour not unlike that of a grasshopper's legs, connected by green lines to the lower section of the crest.

"Guess it can't be helped. At least, I can try out a few new cards," said Bujin Decade in an indifferent tone before slipping a card into his belt.

**ATTACK RIDE: STRIKE VENT**

"You've sealed Bujin Ryuki?!" Bujin OOO would have no further time to dwell on this development as Bujin Decade's right arm changed to a dragon-headed gauntlet before firing a burst of flames from its mouth towards him.

* * *

"_**Boss, just to say this for the record… this is certainly not First Class travel accommodations for your special guests."**_

"_Double, stop being an ass and give me more cover fire!"_ shouted Motoharu as he piloted his flying machine which the rafts were tied to so they could move faster in the river. Due to being wide in the open, Yoshitatsu's forces were able to fire at them with flaming arrows so Bujin Double, Bujin Kiva, Goemon and her men were dedicated to defense while Saitou Dousan and his men tried to hang on for safety. _"Kiva, remember to focus on burst shots! No time to use a finishing move!"_

"_**Yeah, yeah…" **_Bujin Double in his Cyclone Trigger form chuckled a bit before resuming firing with his Trigger Magnum.

"Roger that." Bujin Kiva had assumed his Basshaa form for more mobility in the water and access to his own magnum weapon so he could cover the rear better.

"We're sitting ducks out here!" exclaimed one of Dousan's solders.

"Then we'll have to put our trust in Bujin Gaim," replied Dousan in a grim tone.

'Che… I wish I knew how the weapons systems on this machine work!' Still, he had his melon shield so he might as well make use of that and the boomerang function. One hand immediately went to his belt and tapped the Cutting Blade twice.

**MELON AU LAIT!**

"_GO!" _With a hard toss of the shield, it veered towards the right cliff first, cutting deep into the rock surface and causing a few enemy archers to fall into the rushing river. Then it continued traveling in a circular path and swept by the left cliff next to slice deep into that rock and eliminate more enemy soldiers from that side before returning to Motoharu.

"I-incredible." Saitou Dousan's soldiers were in awe at the last trick their rescuer had pulled off.

The group finally made it to the coast and disembarked safely while Motoharu recalled the machine back into the Lockseed. _"We've made it to Owari… any casualties?"_

"Three men injured but otherwise, everyone made it through," reported Goemon.

"Even if we made it, Yoshitatsu will not give up so easily. We can't outrun his army's horses," said Dousan as he pointed out to the approaching forces led by his son.

"_Then I'll hold them off while you guys make your way to the provincial capital. You can meet up with Akechi and your daughter there."_

Knowing that arguing at this point would be a waste of time, Dousan merely nodded. "Understood. We'll leave it to you."

Motoharu then turned back to the approaching army and prepared to switch Lockseeds to the Blood Orange one. _"Double, Kiva… are you two ready?"_

Bujin Double clutched his Trigger Magnum in anticipation. _**"We'll make them count up their sins!"**_

"Let's make a show of this!" Being near a source of water would certainly be advantageous for Kiva's Basshaa Magnum.

But before they could get into action, they all heard the sounds of rifles discharging and saw enemy soldiers falling from their horses. Motoharu turned to the source of the sound and then growled in anger. _"I don't believe this… Nobuna, you idiot!"_

A portion of the Oda army had gathered there with Oda Nobuna at the head. "Drive back Yoshitatsu's forces!"

Knowing that they were in over their heads, the enemy forces began to fall back while the Oda soldiers and Katsuie chased them off. While Motoharu spotted Nobuna, Inuchiyo and Niwa head towards him, he felt a hand on his shoulder from Bujin Double. _**"Boss, good luck with her."**_

"You'll need it," added Bujin Kiva. With that said, both of them vanished and retreated back into the Lockseeds hanging by his waist.

'Thanks a lot, guys,' thought the Melon Rider sarcastically before he straightened up. _"Niwa-san, I thought I told you to make sure she doesn't give the order to march out. Why am I seeing about half the Oda army here? Why didn't anyone stop her?"_

"We tried but she insisted," replied Niwa in a tired tone.

Well, given Nobuna's forceful personality at times, he could understand how difficult it would be for them to stand their ground once the warlord's mind was made up. Now it would be his turn to deal with that as the warlord hopped off her horse and came straight to him. "Saru, how dare you do this behind my back?! I didn't give you permission to go to Mino!"

"… _how strange. I was under the impression that since I had been sworn in as a trusted general, I had assumed that I would have been trusted enough to go save an important ally of the Oda clan using whatever means necessary." _Although his tone remained neutral, anyone sharp enough would be able to detect the sheer amount of disappointment in his speech._ "I now see that I have overstepped my boundaries. For that, I do apologize and am willing to submit my resignation if you wish for it."_

Nobuna looked stunned for a moment before a scout came to interrupt the moment and deliver important news just as the sun broke. "Nobuna-sama, 25,000 troops from Imagawa have invaded Owari."

Great, what a way to start the day. He wished he could get some sleep as he had been awake for almost 24 hours due to working all night to get the Viper out of Mino but he could see some soldiers setting up a small camp and a briefing area for the senior officers to discuss things. Considering that Nobuna hasn't accepted his resignation, he would have to join the meeting.

Once settled, everyone got a handle on the situation which did not look good. The Imagawa army's vanguard led by Matsudaira Motoyasu has surrounded Marune Fortress with 3,000 soldiers. Other forts were under attack as well by the armies of the other Imagawa vassals.

"I guess this is the end of the Oda clan. We live in Owari after all," said Nobuna after listening to the report.

"That joke only gets five points, Princess," replied an annoyed Niwa from the side.

"We have to counterattack!" exclaimed Katsuie.

"It's impossible, Riku. We only have 3,000 soldiers." Nobuna's blunt reply really didn't help the morale in this meeting room.

"B-but… maybe Saru knows of a way to win! He's from the future, right?!"

"If Nobuna-sama's willing to listen, then I'll tell you what I know," said Motoharu who had deactivated his armour and was trying to stay awake.

"Right now, I don't want to hear another word from you. You said that you would make my dream come true but those were just words! I hate liars like you!"

He got up as soon as he heard Nobuna say that. "If that's how you feel, then I'll take my leave immediately. It's obvious that my presence here is hindering any productive discussion and my lack of sleep will likely increase the probability of something extremely stupid coming out of my mouth. Once I've rested, I'll check back in."

Niwa was impressed that even while fatigued, Motoharu still strongly held a professional attitude and mindset. "That's reasonable. Any objections, Princess?"

She turned away, not wanting to look at him right now. "Just get out of my sight."

Now that he had been dismissed, he stood up and summoned Goemon to him so she could help take him back to his residence in Owari. After all, driving a flying motorcycle with no sleep in the past 24 hours is not a good combination.

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

**So just to respond to a few reviews:**

**New Universe: No, Motoharu will not be getting a Genesis Driver at this point. It's still much too early to even consider that when there are a lot of other things flying around like the battles in the Warring States era and the Bujin Lockseeds still out and about.**

**Mark21800: I haven't figured out which ending to use since I'm still only in the first major arc. I may lean more towards the anime though.**


	10. Intangible Assets

It is the age of the civil wars. The land is divided by powerful warlords, who constantly fight each other. Any internal power struggle is an invitation for your neighbors to attack. So it is decided that the firstborn child, regardless of gender, would become the head of the family. The result of this was the birth of the Princess Generals.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing about Ambition of Oda Nobuna or Kamen Rider. The only thing I own here is my OC.**

**Tenth Slice: Intangible Assets**

It was early in the afternoon when Motoharu woke up from his nap. Once he got up from his bed and placed his glasses on, he saw Goemon waiting for him. "Did you sleep well?"

"I've already rested earlier," replied the small ninja. "I spoke with the others at the castle and have a situation report for you."

"I'm going to guess that it's pretty bad."

She nodded once. "It won't be long until all of the Imagawa vassals come to attack Kiyosu."

He figured that much since earlier in the morning, they heard that the vassals had begun attacking fortresses in Owari. "Any word from Nobuna-sama?"

"Since returning from Nagara River, she went straight to her room. Nobody has seen her come… out." Goemon's head perked up as a figure came by the entrance of the house.

"Goemon, can you please prepare some tea for everyone?" The small ninja simply got up and left for the kitchen.

"How are you doing, Sensei?" It was Nobusumi at the door and accompanying the young boy was Saitou Dousan.

"I've rested up now so that's good." Motoharu turned to the elder man. "I guess you want that game of shogi now?"

Dousan snorted once as he and the boy entered the home. "There are more important things to consider than a game right now. Answer me this, young man: can the Imagawa be defeated?"

"It's a key event in the Warring States period. It's only after winning this battle that Oda truly becomes a conqueror. But as she is right now…" The young Japanese man sighed. "I don't get it. I really thought I had earned her trust! I thought she would have had faith in me to complete the job!"

"You said it yourself earlier. 'All the people she relied on leave her and die.' Even though that armour of yours is beyond this world, that fear still dominates her mindset. She has experienced that heartbreak many times and the thought that you may be the next one to fall must be too much for her to handle. I ask that you forgive her."

Motoharu took a moment to take Dousan's words in while seeing the tray of tea placed on the floor by Goemon. "So there are severe trust issues that haunt her, huh?"

"During Father's dying days, she and the rest of the clan brought in a number of monks to help cure him with their prayers and methods," began Nobusumi. "When he later died, she killed the monks. The experience left her hating liars and hypocrites. It was also the day that she started disbelieving in God and Buddha."

'That type of behaviour must have really angered a lot of people in her family to the point of using the younger sibling in the first place as an option for clan head,' thought Motoharu to himself.

"Sensei, I know that you can help my sister overcome her problems. Can you please help her?"

The young Japanese man took a sip of his tea. "I think I have an idea. I just need to verify something outside the capital and if my information is correct, this will turn our fortunes around and possibly restore Nobuna-sama to that visionary warlord I met on that day."

"Is this your future knowledge speaking?" asked Dousan.

"More or less. If events remain the same, then the decisive battle will be exactly what Nobuna-sama needs to restore herself."

"Then let me help." This time, it was Inuchiyo at his door. Considering that she was his next door neighbour, he shouldn't be surprised to see her around the area.

"Me too!" piped up Nobusumi.

"We will follow you, Sasaki. Even if it's into the jaws of the devil himself," said Goemon in a solemn tone.

"In that case, let's get our team organized so we can depart quickly," ordered Motoharu.

* * *

Elsewhere, Matsudaira Motoyasu watched the explosions go off in the distance at where the next target was located. A few moments later, her loyal shinobi Hattori Hanzo appeared at her side.

"I've burned all their provisions and gunpowder."

"Okay! Let's go kick them around!"

With the order given, the men of Motoyasu marched forward to cut down any who stood in their path.

* * *

"So where are we going?" asked Inuchiyo as she walked through the woods with Motoharu.

"We're going to Okehazama. That is where the main Imagawa army is resting according to history," replied the Toei Employee.

"We can't launch an assault of our own," warned Goemon from above a tree branch.

"We're not going to do something like that. We just locate the camp and then Nobuna-sama will go in for the finish." Motoharu cracked a little grin. "You should know me better than that, Goemon."

Still, Inuchiyo looked a bit bothered. "Will she believe your report?"

"I'm certain she will." As they reached a certain point in their trip, Goemon landed on the ground right in front of her master.

"Okehazama Mountain is right there," pointed out the small ninja to a large mountain in the distance.

"A mountain…?" It didn't make sense to Motoharu as he recalled Oda Nobunaga launching a sneak attack while the Imagawa army rested. There had to have been some sort of unnoticed area of access on a level accessible by horses and foot soldiers. "That area isn't all just mountain, is it?"

"Nope! There's a flat part of Okehazama, not just the mountain," replied one of Nobusumi's female bodyguards.

A grin came to Motoharu's face upon hearing that. 'And there's the ticket!'

* * *

At the Imagawa camp, the female daimyo helped herself to some grapes while lounging back and relaxing in the sun. "Once Matsudaira's taken Marune, they can take the lead to Kiyosu."

"But our force has suffered heavy casualties," replied the kneeling Hattori Hanzo.

"Ohohoho…!" Imagawa gave a dangerous smile after finishing her little laugh. "You lie. Motoyasu's a crafty one. She would never fight like that."

"…"

"Matsudaira's force is to proceed onwards. Understood?"

"Understood." With Imagawa's mind made up, he vanished out of her sight to deliver the orders to Motoyasu.

The daimyo reached for the small sake saucer, sitting next to her miniature treasure box. "The Mikawa country samurai can be the ones to take all the damage. We will enter the capital elegantly and unscathed. That is how a noble fights."

Just outside the external walls of the camp and hidden in a nearby forest, Sasaki Motoharu nodded to himself as he saw the Imagawa clan symbol with his own eyes. "No doubt about it. That's the Imagawa camp."

"This place has no name but we locals call it Okehazama," replied the same female bodyguard who told him that crucial info earlier.

"A sneak attack from here will do it then. Just like in the history books." Motoharu paused for a moment, remembering some details of the battle. "Nobusumi, I'm counting on you to stall the army and lower their guard. Use song, dance and lots of sake so that when Nobuna-sama comes and launches the sneak attack from here, they won't have a chance to fend off the assault."

"Just leave it to me, Sensei! I'll seduce Yoshimoto!"

Motoharu's eye twitched at the boy's choice of words. The female bodyguards brought by his pupil reacting in a clingy and jealous manner did not help his mood either.

"No fair, Master Nobusumi!"

"Don't cheat on us! Take care of us after the job's done too, okay?"

While Nobusumi laughed heartily, Motoharu just sighed to himself and wondered how a kid that age could be so comfortable with women and be successful with them. Well, that charisma of his is a good intangible asset though. If the kid just applied his charm to every single female daimyo out there, uniting Japan would be a piece of cake.

As Nobusumi's group got to work, the others began making their trip back to Kiyosu. If they moved swiftly and if Nobuna accepted the report, the sneak attack could happen in the evening.

A few seconds after they had passed by a large section of trees, Goemon shoved her master aside in the nick of time just as shuriken embedded themselves in the spot he had previously been occupying. "Imagawa ninjas!"

In an instant, everybody was on alert and had their weapons ready (in Motoharu's case, the Sengoku Driver was on his waist) while they saw several shinobi phase in on tree branches above them. "So you found Yoshimoto's camp. Impressive," said the man who seemed to be the lead ninja with the only portions of his head visible being his eyes, the surrounding skin, and the forehead and black hair.

Two shinobi dropped from their positions above and rushed Motoharu but Inuchiyo and Goemon went into action. Inuchiyo's skills with her yari were more than enough to block the kunai blows and then counter with a hard hit to the stomach, sending him flying back. As for Goemon, her naturally smaller body made her a harder target to hit and she positioned herself perfectly to land a fatal blow with her tanto.

"Sasaki, we'll hold them off," said Goemon once she landed on her feet.

"Just get to the princess!" added Inuchiyo. "That information has to be delivered by you!"

He could understand where Inuchiyo was coming from. Despite the recent sourness, he was certain that Nobuna would still be willing to hear what he had to say. And in a sense, if the report came from someone else, she wouldn't be truly spurred into action.

But first things first. Motoharu grabbed his trusty Blood Orange Lockseed and secured it into his buckle while Goemon blocked a few more shuriken heading his way. "Henshin!"

**BLOOD ORANGE!**

**LOCK ON!**

The Cutting Blade did its thing and the fruit from Helheim Forest fell on Motoharu to form his armour.

**BLOOD ORANGE ARMS! JA NO MICHI ON STAGE!**

"Sasaki, what are you doing?!" asked the alarmed female ninja.

Kamen Rider Bujin Gaim grabbed his two Bujin Rider Lockseeds before unlocking them. _"I need to be in this form for protection and to give me a little extra foot speed. Plus, I'm leaving you with some extra help to fend off these ninjas. Double, Kiva… you're up!"_

**CYCLONE!**

**JOKER!**

"_Yosha! Kivat ikuze!"_

At once, Bujin Double and Bujin Kiva appeared in their default forms behind Goemon and Inuchiyo.

"_I'll be going on ahead. As for my only orders to all of you: stay alive!"_ With that said, Bujin Gaim began to run deeper into the woods. No time to get out that machine of his as it was pretty dangerous to fly at high speeds in a forest this dense.

"You heard him!" shouted some of the men from the Kawanami Group. "Let's do this!"

As Bujin Gaim got more distance, he felt something in the air shift. On reaction, he whipped out the Daidaimaru and knocked away the shuriken thrown at him with his sword. 'Where did that come from?'

"Excellent defense." Upon hearing the compliment, Bujin Gaim turned to the side where the ninja, the same lead ninja he had spotted earlier, stood straight on the tree bark. "I, Hattori Hanzo, never let my prey escape."

Shit, this wasn't any ordinary ninja. It was freaking Hanzo! History portrayed him as displaying many supernatural abilities, just like what he had seen in front of him right now_. "Hanzo… as in Motoyasu's ninja?"_

In Hanzo's hands was a kusarigama, a sickle attached to a metal chain. "No enemy has ever seen me and lived."

'Can I outrun him?' His speed in this form didn't seem to be too shabby but considering how Hanzo had caught up easily from earlier, that may not work out. He'll have to try his luck in a direct fight. Gripping his sword, he turned to face Hanzo. _"Guess I'll have to try and be the first."_

The ninja attacked first, the sickle shooting straight for Bujin Gaim's waist and bouncing off the Sengoku Driver. 'So he's trying to aim for the buckle? At least now I know that he has some knowledge about the belt.' Thank goodness that the Driver was made out of tough material and that the design made it difficult to dislodge Lockseeds from an outside angle.

The Rider began his counterattack but as his sword came down, all it hit was some wood that had been swapped in at the last second by Hanzo. 'All hail the Ninja Log,' thought Motoharu in a sour tone. 'Where is he going to come from next?'

The answer came in the form of a blow to the back of the neck, at the small gap between his helmet and the back of his armour and then followed by many others in Bujin Gaim's blind spots. No matter what Motoharu did, he couldn't keep up with Hanzo's speed and kept getting struck in areas not as well protected by his Arms. Only on a few occasions, he managed to guard the kusarigama strike with his sword but Hanzo left no opening for a counter attack. Swift and merciless strikes to keep him off balance… he had expected this much from that man.

The gap in ability was ridiculously obvious. Hanzo had grown up in the Iga province, home of the Iga ninja school and had likely been training ever since he could walk. He's gone on plenty of missions to further refine and hone his abilities so that when he served his master, they would have an absurdly sharp weapon by their side. The Rider physical enhancements could only do so much for Motoharu. There was no way he could win a fight with Hanzo if he had plenty of space to move around quickly. Even if Motoharu used his Blood Orange Charge function to destroy as much of the surrounding area as he could, that would just use up his energy and leave him more vulnerable to Hanzo's strikes.

And Hanzo's victory conditions didn't necessarily lie in defeating the Rider. Since his usual human assassination techniques would not be effective on one wearing Rider armour, he could simply go for a prolonged battle and keep Bujin Gaim occupied. As long as Nobuna didn't get that information by the time the Imagawa vassals made it to the capital, then Imagawa would win.

Motoharu would need something else in order to get out of this fight. He could try using his flying machine to escape but considering how well Hanzo had his eye on him, that Lockseed would probably be knocked away from him before he could summon the vehicle. He was fighting a losing battle as well. So all he could do was convince the ninja that letting him go would be in his best interests which would be tied in with Motoyasu's well-being. 'Now I have it!'

"_Imagawa Yoshimoto will never let Motoyasu have Mikawa. One day, she will sacrifice Motoyasu for her own ambitions."_ It seemed that he was talking to himself when he knew Hanzo could hear him quite clearly. _"This is the best opportunity for Motoyasu to have her independence."_

"So you would have my Lord rebel?" asked the echoing voice of Hanzo throughout the forest.

"_She won't have to. Nobuna-sama will defeat Imagawa and be the victor of the battle at Okehazama. This is the outcome written in history."_

"If Oda attacks Mikawa after her victory, then we gain nothing," countered the hidden ninja.

"_You're skilled with information gathering. After all, you knew that my belt is tied with my armour and tried to target it in our little fight earlier. With that in mind, you know that Oda Nobuna will recognize Motoyasu's abilities and treat her better than Imagawa. If you have seen the bonds between her and her Generals and her soldiers, then having Motoyasu ally with Oda will be in your master's best interests."_

There was a long pause before Hanzo chuckled. "Heh… as I expected. You are the key. Just know this… if the alliance does not come to pass, I will kill you someday."

With that, Motoharu could no longer feel Hanzo's presence in the forest. 'Phew… that was a scary encounter. Now to get to Kiyosu!'

* * *

"Washidzu and Marune have both fallen. Our forces have been wiped out," reported the female scout to the other Oda retainers in the main chamber.

"We have to surrender!" shouted one of the male retainers.

"And surrender the Princess to the enemy?" sharply reprimanded Niwa. "No retainer should speak those words. Zero points."

"Stupid woman…"

"And you're a man whining like a little girl!" growled Katsuie. Before the argument could escalate, they heard footsteps from outside and turned their heads to see Kamen Rider Bujin Gaim at the entrance. He seemed quite a bit out of breath.

"_Nobuna-sama… is she still in… her room?" _They were all too surprised to see him but at least Niwa recovered from it quickly.

"Yes, she's still there."

Without wasting a moment, he headed straight to her chamber where she had been playing around with a piano. The sudden commotion caused her to look behind. "Saru! Where have you been all day?"

**LOCK OFF!**

The Lockseed detached from the belt and the armour vanished, leaving an exhausted Motoharu about to collapse. In a second, she moved over to catch him and help him down to catch his breath. "I've found Yoshimoto's camp. They're at the base of Okehazama Mountain on the east side. She has about 5,000 men there. Right now, they're resting and completely cut off from the rest of the forces. Nobusumi's group is stalling them right now."

Nobuna took a moment to digest this information. "What type of future do you see?"

"That's up to you, Nobuna-sama. You choose what to do and I'll keep my mouth shut and follow you." This should help in repairing the damaged trust. "It's the least I can do to make up for going on my own earlier to save Dousan."

"Saru…"

"Nobuna-sama, I never really understood the extent of your trust issues until now. Nobusumi told me a few things. About how the trust you put in the monks was shattered when your Father died and how it made you a disbeliever of God and Buddha. Frankly, I'm not much of a religious person myself. So it's fine if you don't want to believe in them but what you should do is put your faith in the people around you. If they confidently declare that they will complete a job or a task, let them go about it and only step in if they ask for a little extra support or assistance. That's how a superior should act in regards to their subordinates."

"Believe in Inuchiyo? Riku… Machiyo…" Her golden eyes locked straight on to Motoharu's face. "And you…"

"Nobuna-sama, won't you believe in me? Even if there is no God or Buddha… there is Kamen Rider."

There was a brief moment of silence before something shifted in Nobuna. Gone was the moping girl from most of today and instead, replaced with the warlord he had met when he first arrived in the Warring States era. "So Okehazama, huh?"

Motoharu nodded while he had a small smile on his face, glad to see her back.

"Dearu ka."

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

**Well, this came out a bit later than expected due to my Super Heroine Chronicle story starting to take off in terms of reader response and how fun it is to work a new angle into it. Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter.**


	11. Imagawa's Finale

It is the age of the civil wars. The land is divided by powerful warlords, who constantly fight each other. Any internal power struggle is an invitation for your neighbors to attack. So it is decided that the firstborn child, regardless of gender, would become the head of the family. The result of this was the birth of the Princess Generals.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing about Ambition of Oda Nobuna or Kamen Rider. The only thing I own here is my OC.**

**Eleventh Slice: Imagawa's Finale**

Bujin Decade's day could have been going better.

His battle with Bujin OOO the previous evening had gone a bit differently than expected. Considering that the other Bujin Rider had only woken up not too long before the encounter, Bujin Decade figured that he would not have had the energy to pull off an actual Full Combo. Instead, Bujin OOO's dedication to the Oda clan had given him enough willpower to pull it off a Latoratar Combo and use the Liodias light to briefly blind Decade before making a run for it with his high speed.

While he was a little bothered at the fact that he failed to seal Bujin OOO, he already knew where that other Bujin Rider would be heading. All he needed to do was to trail Nobuna and that monkey for a while until Bujin OOO showed up eventually.

'And speaking of that monkey…'

His green optics picked up the sight of the yellow banners belonging to the Oda clan forces. It looked like all 3,000 of their soldiers were marching somewhere for a serious military campaign.

'Guess I better see what all the commotion is about.' Summoning his version of the Machine Decader, he took off on the road that would eventually connect with the route that the Oda army was currently using.

* * *

The war drums had been beaten and the army prepared to mobilize. And once Nobuna had recited the infamous verse from the Atsumori, which Motoharu remembered as a Japanese Noh play, she was ready to go.

During the army's march to Okehazama, Motoharu's men along with Inuchiyo, Goemon and the two Bujin Riders rejoined them after reporting the sudden withdrawal of the Imagawa Ninjas. The young Japanese man figured that Hanzo had something to do with it and made sure to use whatever influence he had on the Oda warlord to ally herself properly with Motoyasu once everything was finished.

He did find himself a bit puzzled when Nobuna decided to take a small stop at a temple along the way. It must have been an act to boost her soldiers' morale and appeal to their religious beliefs by asking the Gods to bless them for the upcoming battle. Instead, he got something a little different and a little more familiar with the history he remembered reading.

"I know what all of you are thinking," began Nobuna as she addressed her troops. "Imagawa has 25,000 soldiers. Yes, they outnumber us greatly. Some retainers wanted to surrender. What if we do surrender? Will you be content with losing your life that way? Other retainers suggested that we fortify ourselves back at home. So we hold on to the castle, lock it up, and wait until the Imagawas lose appetite and stop the siege and go home?"

Even though no names were mentioned, Shibata had the decency to look embarrassed which indicated that she had suggested that second idea.

"We could probably prolong our lives for five or ten days, and what we cannot defend will still be lost. So I admit that right now, things are looking bad. But you can't deny that this current life is not interesting. And the way I see it, this is a chance of a lifetime. I can't afford to miss this. Do you really want to spend your entire lives praying for longevity? We were born in order to die! Whoever is with me, march forward to the battlefield! Whoever is not, just stay here and watch me win it!"

Her words sparked the spirits of her soldiers as they all roared, itching to go into battle. Even Motoharu couldn't help but shout his approval as well.

"Princess, since we're here at Atsuta Shrine, why not offer a prayer to the Gods for victory?" suggested Niwa on the side.

"Have a few words with the Gods, huh?" Nobuna smiled at that idea before defiantly turning to face the religious statue with her hands on her hips. "How long are you going to leave this country a mess? From now on, I'll take over for you and protect the people. If you understand that perfectly, then make sure I win!"

At that moment, a lightning bolt flashed above the sky as if Heaven itself responded to the Oda warlord before rain began to fall. With a satisfied smirk, Nobuna turned back to her troops. "The Gods sitting in the back of the shrine tell us that victory is ours for certain! This rain will provide cover as we attack! All forces to Okehazama!"

"Such intense energy from the Princess. One hundred points!"

* * *

"Ara… it's raining hard. I can't even play with my ball," noted Imagawa from underneath the umbrella set up near her sofa. She then noticed how most of her soldiers seemed to be out of it, either recovering from the sake or just exhausted from joining in all that singing and dancing with Nobusumi and his friends. "Where did Nobusumi-chan and his friends go?"

"They left shortly before the rain storm. They probably didn't want to worry their families by being out in this weather," replied an aide from the side.

"Well, we would have sheltered them from the ra-" Imagawa got cut off by a flash of lightning in the sky, spooking her enough to drop her ball and have it roll away from her. As she walked forward to get it, her eyes spotted something yellow at the top of the hill ahead. 'Yellow…?'

"What's that up there?" asked a general in a weary tone.

She looked up and upon seeing the sight of dozens and dozens of Oda clan banners, she froze. "W-what's going on? Is that…?"

"It's the enemy!" shouted one of her generals, confirming her worst fear. "All forces intercept!"

"What forces?! Almost everybody is too drunk or too tired to fight and we can't fight in this rain!" countered another man.

'This can't be happening…' Imagawa Yoshimoto froze in fear as her remaining men in the camp began to flee while the Oda soldiers outside made quick work of the disorganized Imagawa soldiers stationed outside the camp. 'Everybody's gone…! I'm all alone!'

Just as that thought crossed her mind, the outer banners of the Imagawa clan snapped with a few men thrown through it courtesy of the mighty Shibata Katsuie, armed with her giant halberd. "Imagawa Yoshimoto, prepare to die!"

"No! I don't want to die!" She dropped her umbrella and tried to shield herself as best as she could.

"Your life is mine. That's the way of the world!" Just as Katsuie raised her weapon and went for the final blow, it was promptly blocked by Bujin Gaim's Daidaimaru. She looked up in surprise to see the Rider preventing her from ending all of this.

"_That's enough."_

"Saru, what are you doing?! Are you siding with the enemy?!"

"_No, Shibata-san. I simply prefer that this does not end in a meaningless death."_ Inside the armour, Motoharu knew this was going to be a major pain and cause ripples in this timeline. From his history lessons, Imagawa Yoshimoto was depicted as a strong male daimyo. He figured that even if the gender changed, this Imagawa would be the same and be a strong warrior like Nobuna. Instead, she was clearly unarmed, defenseless and genuinely afraid for her life. In other words, the type of person he had a duty to protect as a Rider. _"Now that we have control of the situation, let's think our next steps through carefully and not do anything rash."_

"W-who are you?" asked the young female noble as he fetched her umbrella and gave it back to her. This strange armoured man had saved her even though he seemed to be an enemy soldier.

"_Nobuna's retainer, Kamen Rider Bujin Gaim. Imagawa Yoshimoto, this war is over. It would be in your best interests to surrender."_

"I don't want to die… but I don't want to surrender to a bunch of Owari monkeys! Oh, I know!" Imagawa scooted over to where the miniature treasure box sat on the table. "How about I have a face to face negotiation with your Lord? I'll even give this treasure box to Nobuna-san as a gift of friendship! It's even full of strange relics that I hear your Lord likes to collect!"

'Since when did Imagawa collect stuff like that?' Motoharu found that a bit puzzling.

"You have the nerve to think you're in a position to negotiate! Don't screw with me!" In an instant, Shibata's halberd split open the treasure box, scattering the contents into the air for Bujin Gaim to see. There seemed to be a few European musical compositions, a small Christian cross… and a Lockseed that had just turned active thanks to his comrade's impulsiveness.

As soon as that Lockseed hit the ground, it transformed into a red magical circle and engraved itself on the ground along while a voice in the air began chanting.

**FLAME PLEASE! HI-HI! HI-HI-HI! **

A humanoid in a black bodysuit then appeared above the magic circle. He had a silver belt with a hand serving as the buckle on his waist and a small collection of rings dangling on his left side. The chest was covered in red gem–like armor and the shoulders were covered in black armor with silver edges that were decorated with dragon–like crests. From the waist hung a robe–like waist covering which was red on the inside but black on the outside. The wrists and ankles sported bands that were the same ruby red as his chest plate. Finally, his head was concealed by a silver helmet which had a ruby red faceplate decorated like the ring worn on the left hand, sporting metal lines making it appear as if it had large eyes with antennae rising from the forehead.

"_Shibata-san, look what happens when you do something rash,"_ muttered Bujin Gaim in a flat tone while Imagawa was flabbergasted upon seeing the trinket Motoyasu had given her some time ago summon an armoured warrior here.

"S-shut up!" Shibata prepared herself to fight against this new arrival. "Who are you?! Are you an ally of Imagawa?!"

"I am Kamen Rider Bujin Wizard," introduced the new Bujin Rider while briefly taking in his surroundings and noting those who were present in the area. "And no, I cannot say I'm an ally of this Imagawa… but considering I am a Rider who protects the helpless, I suppose that would make me your opponent since you two intend to harm this young defenseless lady here."

"Actually, you won't be their opponent," chirped in a new voice from behind Shibata and Bujin Gaim. Both turned around to see Bujin Decade just as his invisibility effect wore off. "You'll be mine."

'And this goes from bad to worse,' thought Motoharu.

"So you're going to fight beside us against this Wizard?" asked Shibata cautiously to Bujin Decade.

"Not really. I'm planning to take him on myself. I don't suppose you two could take five and leave this one with me?" asked Bujin Decade.

"He's our enemy! We'll fight him!" argued the busty general.

"_So you should just leave him to us," _finished Bujin Gaim.

Bujin Decade sighed and took out two cards. "Well, I did try to ask nicely. Guess I'll do this the other way." One card slipped into his buckle before announcing something odd.

**ATTACK RIDE: NATSUMIKAN**

Just as the belt finished announcing that, he jammed a thumb into Shibata's neck which caused her to laugh uncontrollably and nearly collapse to the ground. Bujin Gaim moved over to quickly check up on his comrade. _"Shibata-san, are you okay? What happened?"_

"Laughing Pressure Point. It'll wear off in a few minutes." Bujin Decade then slipped one more card into his belt.

**ATTACK RIDE: STRANGE VENT**

It seemed to process something briefly before spitting the card back out with a new design. "Hm, this'll work." The card then went back into the belt…

**ATTACK RIDE: FREEZE VENT**

... And before Bujin Gaim knew it, most of his body was frozen in ice and left him unable to move thanks to the passing by Bujin Rider. _"Freeze Vent? That belongs to Kamen Rider Tiger! How did you do that?!"_

"You can dwell on that for the next few minutes while the ice holds you," replied Bujin Decade before he turned his attention to his opponent and switched his Ride Booker to sword form. "Sorry for the wait. Let's get started, shall we?"

"As you wish." Without wasting a moment, Bujin Wizard scanned the ring on his right hand on his belt…

**CONNECT PLEASE!**

… And drew out what seemed to be his personal weapon. It didn't seem like a long sword and that weird hand as the guard did look a bit goofy but if it was anything like the Daidaimaru, it probably could pack a good punch. "Now it's showtime."

With both Riders ready, they leapt at each other with their weapons clashing and generating sparks which frightened Imagawa to the point of crawling over to the frozen Bujin Gaim to use him as a shield much to his annoyance. _"Geez, I can't believe this…"_

"I don't want to be anywhere near those things!" protested the noble woman.

Motoharu ignored her and the laughing Katsuie while trying to focus on moving his limbs. The ice seemed to be weakening which made sense since Freeze Vent is only active for a short while. If he could reach his buckle to activate the Cutting Blade, the Daidaimaru would be able to get charged and help him break free.

Meanwhile, Bujin Decade and Bujin Wizard continued to cross swords. Wizard's footwork was very good which is only natural for someone who prefers using kicks in their combat style and his acrobats allowed him to dodge some of the incoming strikes but his swordsmanship was not as great, compared to his opponent's. Bujin Decade seemed to be aware of this and used the surroundings around him such as the puddles and the spilled furniture to distract Wizard briefly enough for a few strikes to land.

The damage seemed minimal as he immediately switched rings on his left hand before switching the buckle hand to the other side and scanned the ring.

**WATER PLEASE! SUI-SUI! SUI-SUI!**

A blue magic circle swpet over Bujin Wizard and the red components of his armour changed to blue while the helmet slightly altered itself to resemble the shape of the ring more. One more buckle and ring change was made just as Bujin Decade went in for another slashing attack.

**LIQUID PLEASE!**

The Ride Booker sword strikes hit nothing but water. A second later, the reformed Bujin Wizard tried to grapple him from behind but the other Bujin Rider had other ideas as he slipped a card into his belt.

**ATTACK RIDE: THUNDER**

Invoking the power of the Thunder Deer Undead, Bujin Decade's body crackled with electricity and forced Bujin Wizard to back off and go for another ring change.

**LAND, DRAGON! DAN DEN DON ZU DOGON! DAN DEN DOGON! **

This time, Wizard's armour underwent a dramatic change. The coat section of the suit turned yellow and the shoulder armor had turned to silver square plating with square yellow gems in the centre. The helmet had also changed slightly as well with an additional yellow square gem in the forehead and the chest section somewhat resembled a dragon's face. While Bujin Decade went on the attack again with his Ride Booker sword, Bujin Wizard kept on the defensive with his personal weapon while prepping his next spell on his right hand.

**VERY NICE! GRAVITY! FABULOUS!**

A concentrated blast of energy was then fired from Bujin Wizard and caused Bujin Decade to get levitated in the air before being dropped to the ground with a sharp increase in gravity, leaving a sizable crater as a result. "This is the finale!"

"Is this Wizard guy going to win?" asked Imagawa on the side while Motoharu's fingers edged closer to that Cutting Blade on his buckle.

"It's not over yet!" Bujin Decade's strength had not been depleted from that last attack as he slipped in a card into his buckle.

**ATTACK RIDE: ADVENT**

At that instant, a large red mechanical Japanese dragon swooped down from the air to strike Bujin Wizard and send him tumbling back. With the spell effect broken, Bujin Decade got up and flashed a card with a yellow border before inserting it into the belt.

**FINAL ATTACK RIDE: R-R-R-RYUKI!**

'He summoned Ryuki's Contract Monster Dragreder?! And he's using Ryuki's Final Vent move?! What type of Rider is Bujin Decade to pull off stuff like this?!' Seriously, that Decade guy was too much in Motoharu's opinion.

Once Bujin Decade got in the air, Dragreder snaked around him as the Bujin Rider moved in to kicking position. At the peak of the jump, Dragreder sent him flying forward with a blast of Drag Fire, with the intent of having Decade slam into his target with great force. Wizard on the other hand had a spell ready to elude the attack.

**SMALL PLEASE!**

The rapid shrinking of Bujin Wizard's body caused Bujin Decade to sail over him and destroy the back part of the Imagawa camp which thankfully had no friendly soldiers nearby. As he grew back to regular size, he pulled off another ring switch on his right hand just as Bujin Gaim found himself free of the ice and Shibata stopped laughing. "A Dragon for a Dragon then."

**MIRACLE PLEASE!**

Wizard's own mechanical Dragon came forth, in a gold and silver colour combination with red eyes. It immediately targeted the red mechanical Dragon monster and the two of them tangled in the air along with their respective Rider masters. It wasn't long until their fight moved further away from the camp and into the upper atmosphere where Bujin Gaim would not be able to pursue.

"_Che… they're too far gone."_ Nothing else he could do here except finishing what he started. _"So back to our discussion… will you surrender and find a new direction in life?"_

"I-I suppose there's no alternative," admitted Imagawa. "I'll let you off easy just this time."

"_Haaaa…"_ Seriously, dealing with this lady was a colossal exercise of patience. But at least this little crisis was resolved nicely and he was happy to report the good news back to Nobuna.

"With Yoshimoto's surrender, the rest of the soldiers will scatter and the Imagawa clan will fall from power. It's thanks to you, Saru."

Motoharu, now out of his Rider armour, gave a small sigh. "I'm sorry that I couldn't properly deal with those two Bujin Riders though."

"It was unexpected so don't take it so hard," replied the blonde warlord while seeing her other retainers busy themselves with checking on the rest of the men and getting injury reports. "By the way, you chose not to kill Imagawa. Explain."

"What's the point of spilling her blood? She was already defeated at that point and I have reason to believe that she'll be of use to us in the future," argued the time displaced Japanese man. "This reminds me of a quote attributed to Alexander the Great. 'To win, but not destroy; to conquer, but not humiliate: That is what true conquest is.'"

"Dearu ka." Nobuna mulled over those words for a while before smiling brightly at her retainer. "I think I might give that a try myself. True conquest that is."

He chuckled once. "I'm sure you'll do just fine."

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

**That ends Light Novel Volume 1 (episode 4 of anime roughly) and it feels pretty good to get to this point. Got lots more ahead though so stay tuned.**


	12. Headhunter

It is the age of the civil wars. The land is divided by powerful warlords, who constantly fight each other. Any internal power struggle is an invitation for your neighbors to attack. So it is decided that the firstborn child, regardless of gender, would become the head of the family. The result of this was the birth of the Princess Generals.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing about Ambition of Oda Nobuna or Kamen Rider. The only thing I own here is my OC.**

**Twelfth Slice: Headhunter**

'… seriously, what is with this world and little girls being ridiculously powerful?!' Motoharu had been expecting Motoyasu to be gender bent as well but this was really getting to him. For crying out loud, that general barely looked any older than Goemon!

Knowing his luck, Nene will turn out to be some sort of Goddess in training or something.

In the meantime, Motoyasu bowed deeply in front of the Oda warlord and the assembled retainers. "I am honoured that the alliance between Owari and Mikawa…"

"Oi, you're being far too formal! Since when did old friends treat each other so stiffly?" complained Nobuna who had changed back to her normal attire and had broken out a victory feast for her senior officers along with Nobusumi.

"Ah, yes… old friends…" She remembered their childhood relationship quite well. Namely Nobuna getting Motoyasu's robes set on fire, having her get up close and personal with an oven, and other such 'games' which left a lasting fear in her heart and greatly contributed to the lack of confidence she often felt throughout her life.

"Let's talk about that stuff later once we've eaten. Machiyo, did you make sure that the soldiers got their share as well?"

Niwa poured herself some tea. "Yes, they were quite overjoyed and declared you to be a splendid ruler."

"I think we better not get too ahead of ourselves," interrupted Motoharu. "That fight with Imagawa didn't get us any territory so we need to plan our next move."

"And that will be Mino," said Nobuna, already thinking ahead. "Right now, Yoshitatsu has control of that province when it's rightfully ours. At least with Motoyasu allying with us, we won't be outnumbered extremely heavily."

"Plus Hanzo and other shinobi like him will be of great help in cutting down those numbers," added the Toei employee before pondering something. "Then do we know if Yoshitatsu has Special Forces like shinobi or whatever on his side?"

"Ask Dousan," muttered Inuchiyo quietly. "I bet he would know something."

"Well, I don't think we have anything to worry about," commented Katsuie. "I mean, if that guy did have his own special soldiers or something, he would have used them against Dousan and against us earlier, right?"

"That's a good point, Riku." Nobuna now had to figure out what to do. Time was of the essence and she couldn't afford for Yoshitatsu to remain in control of Mino and challenge the treaty that had been signed by Dousan in good faith. Then again, going in blind wasn't something she was comfortable with. "I've decided that we'll move onwards to Mino. We have the duty to return my godfather, Saitou Dousan, to Inabayama castle."

"I just hope that Shibata-san's assumption about Yoshitatsu's army is correct," said Motoharu.

"You're worrying too much, Saru! The Oda army will be able to handle Yoshitatsu's forces without a problem!"

Within forty eight hours, Oda Nobuna would be eating those words as her army's march towards Mino had not gone quite as smoothly as she would have liked. The incident happened at the forest called 'Nagamori', only four kilometers away from Inabayama Castle. A thick mist had formed that evening and prevented them from marching further. Then following the beating of war drums, Mino soldiers came in waves and swarmed the area. With the weather conditions making it difficult to fight, a relentless enemy attack and lack of knowledge about the terrain, Nobuna's army had been forced to retreat to safer territory with a fair number of injured men and somehow, no casualties.

"No problem, huh?"

A sour Nobuna glared at Motoharu. "Shut up before I behead you. Why didn't you summon that armour of yours?"

"Whoever came up with that strategy back there would have been monitoring things closely. Until we have a better idea of what we're up against, I would rather keep that power concealed." To be honest, the Toei employee had a fairly good idea of who exactly came up with that attack plan for the Mino army but needed to verify it.

"This was a well-executed ambush on all sides," commented Niwa. "A strategist from ancient China named Zhuge Liang favoured this technique by laying lots of ambushes around an area and using a small amount of troops to lure enemy forces in."

"I don't care about that! We just got played around with back there! We have to attack again tonight!" Nobuna would be damned if she just let this slide.

"Princess, the troops will not have the energy to mount any sort of attack right now. We must let them rest for a few days. Twenty points."

"And in the meantime," noted Motoharu. "We can have a chat with Saitou Dousan and get the information we need to plan our next move properly."

"Che… fine!"

After resting for the night, the army marched back to the castle and the troops were given their break while Dousan and Akechi had been brought in as consultants on how to tackle their current problem. The Viper of Mino listened to the situation about the Oda army not being able to move forward before finally speaking. "There is a genius strategist in Mino. His wisdom far surpasses my own. He also prefers to avoid needless death and he is a man of honour and kindness."

"He's been called the greatest strategist in history. There's no way you simpletons can defeat him!" added Akechi, much to Nobuna's annoyance.

"Are you trying to pick a fight?"

"I've never heard of such a genius strategist," murmured Niwa.

"Of course not. He was Mino's greatest secret. And his name is…" Dousan added a pause for dramatic emphasis before spilling the name. "…Takenaka Hanbei. He is considered my hidden dragon."

'Just as I thought.' Motoharu recalled the name of that Samurai who served the Saitou clan and directed the defense of Inabayama Castle against Nobunaga. 'I guess I might be getting another new employee if events match up to the historic outcome.'

"He will be a most formidable opponent. Not only does he know of old and lost strategies, he is an onmyōji," said Dousan.

"Weren't onmyōjis the trend in Kyoto in the Heian period, something like a fortune teller? Do such people still exist now?" asked Shibata.

"That doesn't matter, Riku." Nobuna stood up with her katana gripped in her hands. "Everyone, get ready to march out to Mino tomorrow! Let me see what is so great about this Takenaka Hanbei with my own eyes!"

The next morning, Nobuna was on the move again with 2,000 soldiers. Her approach had changed by sending out spies to keep an eye out for ambushes and split her troops into three sections. Nobusumi led the advance section and had Kivat hiding with him for extra protection. The second section of the force consisted of Shibata's forces which kept some distance from the vanguard. The last section of troops which included Motoharu followed Nobuna who trailed Shibata's forces. Soldiers were deployed in a circular formation to form a tight defensive wall which sacrificed speed for safety.

After crossing the river and reaching the plains, Nobuna stayed behind for a short while and ordered her soldiers to torch any suspicious areas so that Hanbei would not be able to execute any ambushes while Nobusumi moved on ahead. It wasn't long until his forces got enveloped by a white mist and strayed away from the route to Mino. Even Kivat's senses were dulled for a brief moment and by the time he recovered; everyone had gotten lost and found themselves in a swamp full of towers formed by huge rocks.

"W-what is this?" asked Nobusumi nervously.

"I don't know for certain but it seems that we've lost any chance of warning the others to steer away from the area," replied Kivat on his shoulder. "They are already inside."

"Everyone fall back! We'll regroup with the others!" Nobusumi was already betting that his teacher had a plan that will get them out of this mess.

Once his group had moved back with the others, the senior officers got together for a strategy session. "It seems the enemy is using the muddy swamp area near the river to create a maze and trap us here. The soft soil is making it difficult to move around." This time, Niwa refrained from assigning points to that tactic as Nobuna would not be in the mood to hear her praising the enemy's skills.

"If we linger here any longer, the ground will be so soft up to the point where we can't run away properly. And that's when I expect the trap to be triggered and all that river water will rush our way which would drown us," added Motoharu.

"So this is another trap from Hanbei?" asked the blonde warlord.

Niwa nodded. "Yes. I think this is Zhuge Liang's legendary trap, the Stone Sentinel Maze. It's based on the concept of _ba gua_, the eight trigrams used in Taoist cosmology-"

"Talk about history later," piped up Inuchiyo. "We need an exit now."

"With the stone piles set as they are, navigation will be extremely difficult. Not to mention the weather in the area can distort our senses and make us go around in circles. I suggest we just get rid of the stone piles so that they don't distract us from trying to get back to the main road. And in the event that the river water is released, the stones will be big enough to help us keep afloat and prevent drowning."

Shibata readied her weapon. "Not using your brain and destroying everything? I like Saru's plan!"

"To think that Sasaki-dono would be able to find a simple method of escaping this labyrinth… eighty five points!" complimented Niwa.

"Good plan." As always, Inuchiyo was short and straight to the point.

"Just because you can't find the exit, you destroy the maze. What a ridiculous strategy," grumbled Nobuna to herself.

"Goemon, how many bombs do you have? We'll need your help to strike the piles in the distance while these piles can be handled by the troops."

Motoharu's faithful shinobi phased in to land on the nearby rock pile. "I used up all of my explosives and smoke bombs to help escape from the first trap. I didn't westock evewything."

"I don't understand what you said for that last bit when you stuttered but I'm guessing you're a bit short on supplies now?" Upon seeing her nod in response, Motoharu sighed before taking out his Sengoku Driver and strapping it to his waist. "It can't be helped then. I'll have to use my power to speed up the operation."

**BLOOD ORANGE!**

**LOCK ON!**

With the Lockseed secured in the buckle, he tapped the Cutting Blade to activate his armour. "Henshin!"

**BLOOD ORANGE ARMS! JA NO MICHI ON STAGE!**

Immediately, his Pulp Eye visor helped him determine the precise point he needed to be at to maximize usage of his attack and destroy the stone piles in the far distance. Once he got into position, he attached his Daidaimaru to his Musou Saber to form the Naginata Mode and inserted the Lockseed into the weapon.

**LOCK ON! 1, 10, 100, 1,000, 10,000!**

"Heeeyaaah!" With a large shout, he swung the Naginata and unleashed a large energy shockwave in the form of a Blood Orange slice.

**BLOOD ORANGE CHARGE!**

* * *

"Oh, this is quite interesting," mumbled the man to himself as he observed the blood orange energy wave in the distance. He had fox like eyes along with a standard onmyōji wardrobe and a black advisors helmet. "He not only came up with the idea but he had enough power to execute the task himself."

"You won't flood the area?" asked the Mino soldier nearby.

"There's no point now. Besides, my master prefers to avoid needless bloodshed."

The other soldier merely grumbled. "Yoshitatsu-sama won't like this. But at least Mino will be safe from invasion. I do wonder why he does hide himself from Yoshitatsu-sama. What kind of retainer does that?"

* * *

Once the Oda army got back to the main road and retreated back to the capital to recover from that disastrous outing, a decision had been made to recruit Hanbei. Dousan felt that Hanbei's attitude and benevolence would be a good fit for Nobuna and her style of conquest. To that end, the mission got assigned to Motoharu since Nobuna recognized his talent of negotiating with people.

"Why does the esteemed, intelligent and beautiful Juubei Mitsuhide have to escort a wild monkey through Mino?!"

Accompanying Motoharu were Inuchiyo for security purposes and Mitsuhide, who would act as his guide in the province.

"I'm hardly wild, Mitsuhide." Motoharu had taken quite a bit of time to try getting rid of the wrinkles in his full business suit and shave the best he could with the shaving tools of this era. This way, he would look as sharp as possible for the discussion ahead. "And Dousan-san ordered this so let's just try and keep civil, okay?"

"Hmph!"

He glanced to his left where he heard munching noises from Inuchiyo. "And are you sure you should be eating sweetfish now when we could be ambushed in this misty bamboo area?"

She swallowed the piece of meat in her mouth. "It'll be fine."

"Ugh…" At least the end of the path was coming up as he could spot an entrance gate with multiple ofuda stuck on the door. It then opened up to reveal a middle aged man.

Mitsuhide recognized the person in a snap. "Andou Morinari?"

"Mitsuhide, what are you doing here? I thought you were in Owari with Dousan-sama." He took one look at the other two before putting it together. "Ah, you wish to convince Hanbei to join you."

"That's correct," replied Motoharu.

"We haven't gotten along well with Yoshitatsu-sama lately. I should have gone with Dousan-sama. But it will take more than mere words to convince us to turn our backs on our duty as retainers to Mino's Saitou clan," warned Andou.

"Fair enough." The group got led to a small hut and were surprised to see one other person already inside, sitting in front of what seemed to be some decorative armour likely belonging to Hanbei.

"Asai Nagamasa?!"

The blue clad daimyo of Oumi province was just as surprised to see the Oda group as well. "Saru? You again?"

Motoharu kept his face calm. "Why are you here? Do you have your sights on Hanbei as well?"

"That's correct. With Takenaka Hanbei at my side, Mino will fall. If I give her Mino, Nobuna-hime won't be able to refuse my marriage proposal."

The Toei employee sighed while taking a spot on the mat beside the other daimyo. "You're getting ahead of yourself. And besides, I recall Nobuna-sama already rejecting you so there's really no point of you being here."

Nagamasa snorted once. "That remains to be seen."

Motoharu didn't have a chance to reply as the armour in front glowed briefly before a man appeared in front of them dressed in a standard onmyōji wardrobe and a black advisors helmet. "Nice to meet you. I am Takenaka Hanbei Shigetora."

"Uwwaahh! A ghost!" screamed Mitsuhide in fright as she clutched Inuchiyo like a lifeline.

'So this is an onmyōji's power? I really wonder if this power is truly his own or if he has a Lockseed on him?' This was going to be an interesting discussion. Not only did Motoharu have to figure out the source of this man's power but there's a rival daimyo present that could easily complicate things further.

Just another day in the office.

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

**I took a bit more from Light Novel Volume Two but this is setup that has to be done so it really can't be helped. Thanks for reading and please review if you enjoyed this chapter!**


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